Identification, diagnosis, and treatment of neuropathologies, neurotoxicities, tumors, and brain and spinal cord injuries using electrodes with microvoltammetry

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to devices and methods of use thereof for detection of biomolecules, in vitro, in vivo, or in situ. The invention relates to methods of diagnosing and/or treating a subject as having or being at risk of developing a disease or condition that is associated with abnormal levels of one or more biomolecules including, but not limited to, inter alia, epilepsy, diseases of the basal ganglia, athetoid, dystonic diseases, neoplasms, Parkinson&#39;s disease, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and cancer. The invention also provides methods of differentiating white matter from gray matter. In some embodiments, regions of the brain to be resected or targeted for pharmaceutical therapy are identified using sensors. The invention further provides methods of measuring the neurotoxicity of a material by comparing microvoltammograms of a neural tissue in the presence and absence of the material using the inventive sensors.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/490,695 filed Jul. 21, 2006, which is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/118,571, filed Apr. 8, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,112,319 issued Sep. 26, 2006, which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/326,407, filed on Oct. 2, 2001; 60/297,276, filed on Jun. 11, 2001; and 60/282,004, filed on Apr. 6, 2001, all now expired, all of which are herein incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to the identification, diagnosis, and treatment of neuropathologies, neurotoxicities, tumors, and brain and spinal cord injuries using electrodes with microvoltammetry.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to devices and methods of use thereof for determining the presence and concentration of chemicals in a cell, tissue, organ or organism. The invention relates to, inter alia, semiderivative voltammetric measurements and chronoamperometric measurements of chemicals, e.g. neurotransmitters, precursors and metabolites, to identify, diagnose, and/or treat neuropathologies, neurotoxicities, tumors, and brain and spinal cord injuries.

Microvoltammetric indicator microelectrodes pass small but measurable currents while neurotransmitters and metabolites close to the microelectrode surface undergo oxidation and/or reduction (Adams R N et al., 1982, Handbook of Psychopharmacology, pp. 1-74). When an electrode is placed in contact with a solution a phase boundary is created that separates identical solutes into two different types. They are (a) molecules that are at a distance from the microelectrode and (b) those molecules that are close enough to participate in mutual interactions between the surface of the microelectrode and the sample solution interface (Kissinger P T et al., 1996, Laboratory Techniques in Electroanalytical Chemistry, pp. 11-50). Collectively, these interactions are called electrochemistry.

Detection of electrochemical signals from solutions and from anatomic brain sites is termed “faradaic” because the amount of the oxidative and/or reductive species detected at the surface of the microelectrode may be calculated by a derivation of Faraday's Law, the Cottrell Equation, 1 i_(t)=nFAC₀ D₀ ^(1/2)/3.14^(1/2)t^(1/2), where i is current at time t; n is the number of electrons (eq/mol); F is Faraday's constant (96,486 C/eq); A is electrode area (cm²); C is concentration of oxygen (mol/cm³), and D is the diffusion coefficient of oxygen (cm²/s). The proportionality between charge and mass of an electrochemical reaction describes the relationship between the charge of each neurochemical in the process of oxidation and/or reduction and the concentration of each neurochemical. The Cottrell Equation relates to quiet solution experiments wherein the potential is instantaneously switched from an initial value E_(i) to a final potential, then held constant for a fixed time, then switched back to E_(t). If material diffuses to a planar electrode surface in only one direction (linear diffusion) then the exact description of the current-time curve is the Cottrell Equation.

Current-time relationships with a circular electrode are defined in electrochemistry by the Cottrell Equation. For a long time, other electrode sizes and experiments using different electrolysis times were considered deviations from the Cottrell Equations that could be considered negligible. However, Wightman et al. observed that linear diffusion is not enough to describe the action that takes place at spherical microelectrodes (Dayton M A et al., 1980, Anal. Chem. 52:948-950). The quiet solution behavior of very small electrodes is different and is better described by a steady state equation in which the radius of the electrode is taken into account (Adams R N et al., 1982, Handbook of Psychopharmacology, pp. 1-74). This equation is suitable for calculating the edge effect or spherical steady-state contribution for even a 300-micron diameter electrode. Such a calculation reveals that the edge effect or spherical steady-state contribution adds approximately 30% current to the linear diffusion component for an electrolysis time of only one second (Dayton M A et al., 1980, Anal. Chem. 52:948-950).

Microvoltammetric circuits using several types of carbon paste microelectrodes have been developed and refined (Broderick P A, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,710; Broderick P A, 1996, EP 90914306.7; Broderick P A, 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,903). Reliable separation and quantification of neurotransmitters including norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine as well as some of their precursors and metabolites is now possible (Broderick P A, 1989, Brain Res. 495:115-121; Broderick P A, 1988, Neurosci. Lett. 95:275-280; Broderick P A, 1990, Electroanalysis 2:241-245).

One electrode for in vivo electrochemical studies was developed in the laboratory of Ralph Adams (Kissinger P T et al., 1973, Brain Res. 55:209). Using carbon paste electrodes with diameters reaching 1.6 mm and Ag/AgCl (3M NaCl) reference electrodes, neurotransmitters including dopamine and norepinephrine and their metabolites were detected (not separated), as a single peak in rat caudate nucleus with finite current electrochemistry and cyclic voltammetry.

Extensive refinements to microelectrodes and to in vivo electrochemistry have been made (Broderick P A, 1990, Electroanalysis 2:241-245). The recent development of a stearate-carbon paste probe along with an electrode conditioning process has resulted in reliable separation and detection of norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin (Broderick P A, 1996, EP 90914306.7; Broderick P A, 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,903). In addition, other types of microelectrodes with increased sensitivity and reliability continue to be developed (Broderick P A, 1996, EP 90914306.7; Broderick P A, 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,903). An electrochemically pre-treated carbon fiber electrode allows the differentiation of dopamine from DOPAC (Akiyama R A et al., 1985, Anal Chem. 57:1518), as do microelectrodes used in the instant invention.

Previous in vitro analysis techniques have yielded disappointing results. Prior ex vivo studies attempted to circumvent these problems with the microdialysis technique (During M J et al., 1993, Lancet 341:1607-1610; Lehmann A et al., 1991, Neurotransmitters and Epilepsy, pp. 167-180). Dialysis tubing placed on or within the brain is perfused with artificial CSF or Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate solution, and the perfusate is then analyzed with High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection; this provides information about the extracellular environment. However, this technique has been criticized because of the local gliosis caused by the dialysis probes and the perfusion process that can alter the biochemical parameters under study. In addition, the perfusate is analyzed outside the brain and therefore in contrast to microvoltammetry measurements are not truly in situ or in vivo.

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by transient electrical disturbances of the brain that may be studied by electrophysical techniques. Neurotransmitter data from experimental epilepsy models and in vitro analysis of surgically resected specimens from patients with partial epilepsy have thus far yielded conflicting results. These conflicting results may be due to significant variations between samples as well as choice of controls. Additionally, highly localized changes in epileptic cortex are not detectable using whole tissue homogenates. In general, increased activity in noradrenergic, dopaminergic, and serotonergic systems are believed to reduce cortical excitability and decrease seizure activity (Delgado-Escueta A V, 1984, Ann Neurol. 16(Suppl.): 145-148). However, human temporal lobe epilepsy is a complex disorder that may involve the dysfunction of distinct neuronal systems including the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex, the temporal neocortex, or combinations of these structures. Therefore, the contribution of different neurotransmitter systems to epileptogenesis in a given patient likely varies with lesion location and the etiology of epilepsy. Furthermore, recent studies demonstrating presynaptic inhibitory serotonin autoreceptors,-in hippocampus (Schlicker E et al., 1996, Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 354:393-396) and a dual role for norepinephrine in epileptogenesis (Radisavljevic Z et al., 1994, International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience 12:353-361) suggest an even more complex situation.

Recent studies are now defining a syndrome of neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy that has distinct clinicopathologic and electrophysiologic features from mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (Pacia S V et al., 1997, Epilepsia 38:642-654; Pacia S V et al., 1996, Ann Neurol 40:724-730). While both mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy are potentially treatable with surgical resection when seizures are refractory to antiepileptic medication, the type and extent of temporal lobe resection necessary to achieve a seizure free outcome may differ. Neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy patients may require resections tailored to include the epileptogenic zone. These resections may lie outside the boundaries of a standard temporal lobe resection performed for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. Neurochemistry using microvoltammetry may provide a means for defining the epileptogenic zone in these patients.

Other techniques for detecting neurotransmitters in real time and in vivo fall short of the instant invention. These previous methods such as dialysis have limitations such as those described in During M Jet al., 1993, Lancet 341:1607-1610; Ferrendelli J A et al., 1986, Adv. Neurol. 44:393-400; Goldstein D S et al., 1988, J Neurochem 50:225229; Janusz W et al., 1989, Neurosci Res 7:144153; Kawaguchi Y et al., 1998, J Neurosci 18:6963-6976.

In vivo detection of neurotransmitters and other chemicals is also important for diagnosing and treating movement disorders such as spinal cord injuries and brain injuries. Current techniques are limited, in part, in their relative inability to monitor neural chemistry in real time in a freely behaving animal or human which may limit their diagnostic and/or therapeutic efficacy. Movement may be generated by a central pattern generator (CPG), i.e. a neuronal network capable of generating a rhythmic pattern of motor activity either in the presence or absence of phasic sensory input from peripheral receptors.

Central pattern generators have been identified and analyzed in more than fifty rhythmic motor systems and CPGs can generate a variety of motor patterns. A universal characteristic of this wide variety of motor patterns is that they consist of rhythmic and alternating motions of the body or appendages. It is the rhythmicity of these behaviors that make these behaviors appear stereotypic. It is the repetitive quality of these behaviors that enables stereotypic behaviors to be controlled automatically. This automaticity or autoactivity means that there may be little or no need for intervention from higher brain centers when the environment remains stable.

The simplest CPGs contain neurons that are able to burst spontaneously. Such endogenous bursters can drive other motor neurons and some motor neurons are themselves, endogenous bursters. Importantly, bursters are common in CPGs that produce continuous rhythmic movement, such as locomotion. But, locomotion is an episodic, rhythmic behavior and thus, further regulation by neurochemicals becomes necessary. Endogenous bursts (cell firing) of neurons involved in locomotion must be regulated by neurotransmitters and neuromodulators, i.e., substances that can alter the cellular properties of neurons involved in CPGs. Brief depolarizations occur and lead to maintained depolarizations (plateau potentials) that can last for long periods of time. These maintained depolarizations far outlast the initial depolarization and it is these maintained depolarizations that are necessary for rhythmic movements. The generation of rhythmic motor activity by CPGs can be altered by amines and peptides (Grillner S et al., 1987, Trends Neurosci. 10:34-41; Rossignol S et al., 1994, Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 4:894-902), thereby enabling a CPG to generate an even greater variety of repetitive motor patterns. Motor CPGs produce a complex temporal pattern of activation of different groups of motor functions and each pattern can be divided into a number of distinct phases even within a phase. CPGs are time-dependent (Pearson K et al., 2000, Principles of Neural Science, 4th edition, pp. 738-755).

Serotonin is an important neuromodulator for CPGs and can control the CPG underlying the escape swim response in the mollusc, Tritonia diomedea. The dorsal swim interneurons (DSIs) are a bilaterally represented set of three 5-HT-ergic neurons that participate in the generation of the rhythmic swim motor program. Serotonin from these CPG neurons is said to function as both a fast neurotransmitter and as a slower neuromodulator. In its modulatory role, 5-HT enhances the release of neurotransmitter from another CPG neuron, C2 and also increases C2 excitability by decreasing spike frequency adaptation. Serotonin intrinsic to the CPG may neuromodulate behavioral sensitization and habituation. Serotonin intrinsic to the DSI enhances synaptic potentials evoked by another neuron in the same circuit (Katz P S, 1998, Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 860:181-188; Katz P S et al., 1994, Nature 367:729-731).

In another mollusc, the pteropod Clione limacina, the CPG for swimming is located in the pedal ganglia and formed by three groups of interneurons which are critical for rhythmic activity. The endogenous rhythmic activity of this CPG was enhanced by 5-HT (Arshaysky Y I et al., 1998, Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 860:51-69). In the pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis, 5-HT is the main neurotransmitter in its stereotypic feeding circuit (Sadamoto H et al., 1998, Lymnaea Stagnalis. Neurosi. Res. 32:57-63).

In the sea slug, Aplysia, the CPG for biting is modulated both intrinsically and extrinsically. Intrinsic modulation has been reported to be mediated by cerebral peptide-2 (cp-2) containing CB1-2 interneurons and is mimicked by application of CP-2, whereas extrinsic modulation is mediated by the 5-HT-ergic metacerebral cell (MCC) neurons and is mimicked by application of 5-HT (Morgan P T et al., 2000, J. Neurophysiol. 84:1186-1193).

In vertebrates, the 5-HT somatodendritic nuclei, the raphe, comprise the most expansive and complex anatomic and neurochemical system in CNS. Raphe nuclei almost exclusively reside along the midline in the rat and in the primate. Fewer reside along the midline, but several exhibit a paramedian organization (Azmitia E C, 1986, Adv. Neurol. 43:493-507). The rostral 5-HT raphe group and caudal linear nucleus sends 5-HT efferents to A₉ basal nuclei motor systems and the caudal 5-HT group, whereas the interfascicular aspect of the 5-HT-ergic dorsal raphe projects efferents to A₁₀ basal ganglia (nuclei) regions (Jacobs B L et al., 1992, Physiol. Rev. 72:165-229).

Electrophysiological studies have shown that the most prominent action of increased 5-HT cell firing, in 5-HT somatodendrites in treadmill locomotion for example, is to increase the flexor and extensor burst amplitude of 5-HT cell firing in dorsal raphe, (DR) somatodendrites for 5-HT, during locomotion (Barbeau H et al., 1991, Brain Res. 546:250-260). Further evidence for 5-HT controlling motor output is seen from studies in which 5-HT, directly injected into the motor nucleus of the trigeminal nerve, increased the amplitude of both the tonic electromyogram of the masseter muscle and the externally elicited jaw-closure (masseteric) reflex (McCall R B et al., 1979, Brain Res. 169:11-27; McCall R B et al., 1980, Eur. J. Pharmacol. 65:175-183; Ribeiro-Do-Valle L E et al., 1989, Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 15:1283). In fact, Jacobs and Azmitia have proposed that 5-HT's primary function in CNS neuronal circuitry is to facilitate motor output (Jacobs B L et al., 1992, Physiol. Rev. 72:165-229).

Serotonin neurons within 5-HT somatodendrites depolarize with such extraordinary regularity that they exhibit automaticity, i.e., they can act by a CPG and produce plateau potentials. Thus, 5-HT neurons exhibit repetitive discharge characteristics. Increased 5-HT neuronal cell firing in somatodendritic raphe nuclei generally precedes the onset of movement or even increased muscle tone in arousal by several seconds and is maintained during sustained behavior (Jacobs B L, 1986, Neurochemical Analysis of the Conscious Brain: Voltammetry and Push-Pull Perfusion, Ann. NY Acad. Sci., pp. 70-79). Importantly, 5-HT cell firing in raphe nuclei is sometimes phase-locked to repetitive behavioral stereotypic responses. The regular firing of 5-HT somatodendrites in raphe nuclei is activated preferentially. This activation is associated with locomotion and chewing, stereotypic behaviors that are stimulated by CPGs (Jacobs B Let al., 1991, Pharmacol. Rev. 43:563-578). Serotonin intrinsic CPGs have been reported to be responsible for inducing rhythmic motor activity in the spinal cord of the turtle and the lamprey (Guertin P A et al., 1998, Neurosci. Lett. 245:5-8; Harris-Warrick R M et al., 1985, J. Exp. Biol. 116:27-46). The evidence in the lamprey suggests that 5-HT may have a role in the generation of a family of related undulatory movements, including, swimming, crawling, and burrowing, by a single CPG.

In addition to neurological disorders and injuries, the device and methods of use provided herein may be used for for brain cancer diagnosis and treatment. Current imaging technology is limited with respect to tumor visualization in neural tissue. For example, magnetic resonance imaging MRI is limited in its ability to detect tumor infiltration into white matter. This may hinder a physician's ability to render a diagnosis and/or prognosis. It further limits the ability to treat the patient by, for example, hindering a surgeon from defining tumor boundaries to remove the tumor. Alternatively, an inability to visualize cancerous cells or tissue in white matter may hinder a physicians ability to monitor the efficacy of a chemotherapy regimen.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to devices and methods for microvoltammetric and/or chronoamperometric imaging of temporal changes in neurotransmitter concentrations in living humans and non-human animals comprising contacting cells with a Broderick probe or BRODERICK PROBE® sensor, applying a potential to said Broderick probe, and generating a temporally resolved microvoltammogram. The method may further comprise determining from said microvoltammogram the presence and concentration of at least one marker selected from the group consisting of serotonin, dopamine, ascorbic acid, norepinephrine, γ-aminobutyric acid, glutamate, neurotensin, somatostatin, dynorphin, homovanillic acid, uric acid, tryptophan, tyrosine, nitrous oxide, and nitric oxide. Methods of the invention may further comprise comparing the microvoltammogram and/or neurotransmitter concentrations to a reference or control microvoltammogram and/or neurotransmitter concentration(s).

The present invention relates to devices and methods for treating epilepsy. More specifically, the invention relates to the use of Broderick probes to ascertain neurotransmitter levels in the brains of patients having epilepsy, especially temporal lobe epilepsy. In some embodiments of the invention, regions of the brain to be resected are identified using Broderick probes. In some embodiments of the invention, regions of the brain to be targeted for pharmaceutical therapy are identified using Broderick probes.

The present invention also relates to devices and methods for reliably distinguishing temporal lobe gray matter from white matter using Broderick probes with microvolatammetry.

The invention further relates to methods of brain cancer diagnosis using distinct white matter voltammetric signals as detected by Broderick probes. The invention further relates to diagnosis of other white matter diseases. Nonlimiting examples of white matter diseases are multiple sclerosis, leukodystrophies, mitochondrial diseases, lipid disorders and glial cell-related disorders whether these glial cells or glia are normal, abnormal, modified or cultured and the like.

The present invention further relates to devices and methods for diagnosing and treating cocaine psychomotor stimulant behaviors. In some embodiments of the invention electrodes may be contacted with a subject to ascertain changes in neurotransmitter levels, e.g. due to release and/or reuptake, in real time. In some embodiments, the invention provides methods of predicting the occurrence of movement disorder effects of a drug. Nonlimiting examples of movement disorders are cocaine addiction, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, Autism, Lesch-Nyhan Disease and the like.

The present invention further provides devices and methods for diagnosing pathologies and/or abnormalities of neurotransmitter levels. Neurotransmitters that may be detected by the techniques of the invention may be selected from the group consisting of serotonin (5-HT), dopamine (DA), ascorbic acid (AA), norepinephrine (NE), γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamate, neurotensin, somatostatin, dynorphin, homovanillic acid, uric acid (UA), tryptophan, tyrosine, nitrous oxide, and nitric oxide.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1. Schematic diagram of the Broderick probe electrodes for the selective electrochemical detection, in vitro, in vivo, and in situ, of neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, metabolites, precursors and peptides in humans and animals, centrally and peripherally. Diagram of electrode is greatly oversized; actual sizes can range from numbers of nanometers in single digits to a few hundred microns to millimeters.

FIG. 2. A and B. Semiderivative voltammograms from mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patients #8, and neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy patient #14, when the indicator electrode was placed in anterolateral temporal neocortex are shown. The potential applied to the indicator electrode in millivolts is plotted on the x-axis. The current derived from each monoamine is plotted on the y-axis. The electrochemical signals are plotted and the characteristic oxidative potentials for each neurotransmitter were identified. Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patient #8 exhibited the norepinephrine and serotonin signature on the voltammogram at peak oxidation potentials of 0.17V for norepinephrine and 0.305V for serotonin Neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy patient #14 exhibited dopamine and serotonin signals on the voltammogram at peak oxidation potentials of 0.115V for dopamine and 0.295V for serotonin. Data are drawn from the original voltammogram, recorded in situ, i.e., actual raw data are presented.

FIG. 3. A and B. Microvoltammograms, recorded in vivo in real time of neurons in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) of freely moving and behaving, male, Sprague-Dawley laboratory rats. The oxidation potential in millivolts is plotted on the x-axis. The current derived from each neurochemical is plotted on the y-axis [Current Scale=25 pAs^(−1/2) 12.5 mm^(1/2))]. _(A) Panel A was recorded two weeks after surgical implantation of Broderick probes under sodium pentobarbital anesthesia, actually on Nov. 30, 1992 and panel B was recorded seven months later on May 11, 1993. Both voltammograms represent endogenous release of dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) in the basal nucleus, NAcc, while the animal is exhibiting normal motor activity in the open-field behavioral paradigm. Animal was not treated with drugs at either recording time, nor was the animal treated with drugs during the seven-month period; recordings taken during the seven-month period were stable as well.

FIG. 4. In situ microvoltammetric recording from hippocampal alveus (white matter in hippocampus, left panel) and neocortex stem (white matter in neocortex, right panel). Tissue was resected from a mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patient (Patient #7).

FIG. 5. A and B. (A) Gray Matter recordings (Voltammograms) from resected tissue from temporal lobe epilepsy patients. Left to Right: Neocortex, Patient 8; Pyramidal Layer, Patient 4; Granular Cells of the Dentate Gyms, Patient 3. (B) White Matter recordings (Voltammograms) from resected tissue from temporal lobe epilepsy patients. Left to Right: Neocortex, Patient 8; Subiculum, Patient 4; Alveus, Patient 3. X-axis: Oxidation potentials in millivolts. Y-axis: Current in picoamperes per semidifferentiation of the second.

FIG. 6. Illustration of Broderick probe operation detecting neurotransmitters along with a resulting microvoltammogram.

FIG. 7. Neurochemistry and Behavior: Line graph depicting endogenous 5-HT release (open circles) at basal nucleus, Ag terminals, of neurons in the dorsal striatum (DStr), detected in real time, while the freely moving, male, Sprague-Dawley laboratory rat is actually behaving, during normal/natural movement (first hour) and subsequent habituation behavior (second hour). Serotonin, detected within seconds of release, is plotted with a line graph derived from infrared photobeam monitoring of behavior (closed circles): locomotion (ambulations, left panel); stereotypy (fine movements, right panel). Open-field behaviors were studied in units of frequency of events recorded every 100 ms during normal/natural behavior. Data show that normal episodic, rhythmic nature of locomotor movement may be neuromodulated by 5-HT within the basal nucleus.

FIG. 8. Neurochemistry and Behavior: Line graph depicting endogenous 5-HT release (open circles) at basal nucleus A₁₀ terminals, ventrolateral nucleus accumbens (v1NAcc), in real time, while the freely moving, male, Sprague-Dawley laboratory rat is actually behaving, during normal/natural movement (first hour) and subsequent habituation behavior (second hour). Serotonin, detected within seconds of release, is plotted with a line graph derived from simultaneous infrared photobeam monitoring of behavior (closed circles): locomotions (ambulations, left panel); stereotypy (fine movements, right panel). Open-field behaviors were studied in units of frequency of events, which were recorded every 100 ms during normal/natural locomotor behavior. Data show that normal episodic, rhythmic nature of locomotor movement may be neuromodulated by 5-HT within the basal nucleus, A₁₀ terminals.

FIG. 9. Neurochemistry and Behavior: Line graph depicting endogenous 5-HT release (open circles) at basal stem nucleus, DA A 10 terminals, somatodendrites, ventral tegmental area (VTA), in real time, while the freely moving, male, Sprague-Dawley laboratory rat is actually behaving, during normal/natural movement (first hour) and subsequent habituation behavior (second hour). Serotonin, detected within seconds of release, is plotted with a line graph derived from simultaneous infrared photobeam monitoring of behavior (closed circles): locomotion (ambulations, left panel); stereotypy (fine movements, right panel). Open-field behaviors were studied in units of frequency of events, which were recorded every 100 ms during normal/natural locomotor behavior. Data show that normal episodic, rhythmic nature of locomotor movement is exhibited and can be detected with this biotechnology. However, still, very rhythmic, 5-HT neuromodulation of movement in VTA exhibits a different pattern of rhythm with movement than that pattern, seen in basal nuclei.

FIG. 10. Cocaine Neurochemistry and Behavior: Line graph depicting endogenous 5-HT release (open circles) at basal nucleus A₁₀ terminals, v1NAcc, in real time, while the freely moving, male, Sprague-Dawley laboratory rat is actually behaving, during cocaine-induced behavior (intraperitoneal injection of cocaine: two hour study). Serotonin, detected within seconds of release, is plotted with a line graph derived from simultaneous infrared photobeam monitoring of behavior (closed circles): locomotions (ambulations, left panel); stereotypy (fine movements, right panel). Open-field behaviors were studied in units of frequency of events, which were recorded every 100 ms during normal/natural locomotor behavior. Data show that cocaine disrupted the normal episodic, rhythmic nature of locomotor and stereotypic movement which may be neuromodulated by 5-HT within the basal nucleus, A₁₀ terminals. Data suggest that cocaine caused neuroadaptive process in 5-HT mechanisms in DA basal nuclei.

FIG. 11. Cocaine Neurochemistry and Behavior: Line graph depicting endogenous 5-HT release (open circles) at basal stem nucleus, DA A10 somatodendrites, VTA, in real time, while the freely moving, male, Sprague-Dawley laboratory rat is actually behaving, during cocaine behavior (subcutaneous injection of cocaine: four hour study). Serotonin, detected within seconds of release, is plotted with a line graph derived from simultaneous infrared photobeam monitoring of behavior (closed circles): locomotion (ambulations, left panel); stereotypy (fine movements, right panel). Open-field behaviors were studied in units of frequency of events, which were recorded every 100 ms during normal/natural locomotor behavior. Data show that cocaine disrupted the normal episodic, rhythmic nature of locomotor movement, likely by disturbing 5-HT neuromodulation of behavior in DA motor circuits and causing neuroadaptation.

FIG. 12. A and B. Schematic of Broderick probes in a grid format on the brain (A) and side view (B).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an electrode or sensor having a construction and an indicator, where the sensor may be used for detecting biomolecules, including but not limited to, for example, but not limited to, neurotransmitters, drugs, amyloid proteins, stabilizing proteins, and chemicals, in order to diagnose or determine a diseased state or condition.

In one embodiment, the Broderick probe is a microelectrode comprising graphite, oil, and a material selected from the group consisting of glycolipids, lipoproteins, saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, and perfluorosulfonated materials.

In some embodiments of the invention, the Broderick probe is a Broderick probe microelectrode having an indicator. Within the field of electrochemistry, this sensor may be termed the indicator microelectrode and may also be called the working microelectrode. The surface of the microelectrode consists of carbon-base and is the electrochemical device.

Broderick probes do not promote bacterial growth either before or after sterilization with gamma irradiation. Gamma irradiation treatment was performed by Sterigenics International, Inc., Haw River, N.C.

A non-limiting example of a Broderick probe or sensor comprising a construction and an indicator as depicted in FIG. 1. Further details and examples may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,883,057, 5,443,710, and 5,938,903, all to P. A. Broderick including circuit diagrams and methods of making Broderick probes. Broderick probes may be in electrical contact with an auxiliary electrode and/or a reference electrode. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, particularly in view of the cited patent documents, that “Broderick probe” is a term that relates to a number of electrodes that vary by composition and the type of circuit in which it is employed and that these variations give rise to differences in detection properties.

One means for electrochemically measuring the concentration of one or more biomolecules or markers include, but are not limited to, circuits of square wave, amperometric semidifferential/semiderivative, voltammetric, linear scan, differential pulse, double differntial pulse, and, chronoamperometric circuits. The auxiliary microelectrode, reference microelectrode, and inventive sensor are functionally connected to the means for electrochemical measurements.

Broderick probes are miniature carbon-based sensors that are able to detect electrochemical signals for a vast number of neurotransmitters, neuromodulators and metabolites, including neuropeptides, hormones, vitamins, and the like (Broderick P A, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,057; Broderick P A, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,710; Broderick P A, 1997, EP 0487647 B1; Broderick P A, 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,903; Broderick P A, 1999, Hong Kong, HK #1007350). These probes have made it possible to routinely and selectively detect in discrete neuroanatomic substrates of living human and animal brain, the monoamines, DA, NE, and 5-HT, in addition to the precursor to 5-HT, 1-tryptophan (1-TP), ascorbic acid (AA) and uric acid (UA) (Broderick P A, 1988, Neurosci. Lett. 95:275-280; Broderick P A, 1989, Brain Res. 495:115-121; Broderick P A, 1990, Electroanalysis 2:241-251; Broderick P A, 2000, Epilepsia 41(Suppl.):91; Broderick P A et al., 2000, Brain Res. 878:49-63). It is also possible to differentiate catecholamines, DA and NE, electrochemically using these probes (Broderick P A, 1988, Neurosci. Lett. 95:275-280; Broderick P A, 1989, Brain Res. 495:115-121; Broderick P A, 1990, Electroanalysis 2:241-251; Broderick P A, 2000, Epilepsia 41(Suppl.):91; Broderick P A et al., 2000, Brain Res. 878:49-63). More recently, it has been found that these probes are also capable of electrochemical detection of somatostatin and dynorphin A (Broderick P A, 2000, Epilepsia 41(Suppl.):91).

The Broderick probe, electrode, BRODERICK PROBE® sensor, or sensor, as used herein, may be prepared in a wide range of sizes and formulations each with different detection capabilities. In particular, one embodiment of the Broderick comprises a construction and indicator portion. The Broderick probe or sensor is useful for intraoperative recordings and continuous recordings with data logging and telemetry.

The sensor is partially or fully encased in an encasement, where the encasement is made of a conducting, semi-conducting, or non-reactive material, such as for example, metals, polymers, or blends thereof, for example, but not limited to, polytetrafluoroethylene, fluorinated ethylene-propylene, perfluoroalkoxy polymer resin, polymethylmethacrylate, polyethylethacrylate, steel, stainless steel, silicon, germanium, silver, platinum, gold, or combinations thereof. The shape of the encasement may be a hollow three-dimensional surface, where there is an opening on either or both ends of the sensor which allows contact of the indicatorwith the neural cells, body, blood, or urine. The shape of the encasement, and thereby sensor, has an end face in the shape of any geometric shape. By end face is meant the ends of the encasement. For example, if the encasement is in the shape of a hollow cylinder, then the circle faces are the end faces of the sensor, see FIG. 1. Non-limiting examples of geometric shapes include: a circle, a triangle, a quadrilateral, a rhombus, a parallelogram, a rectangle, or a polygon of any number of sides, pentagonal, hexagonal, or octagonal.

The encasement may be an inverted well or the like, having the inventive sensor material. The partially or fully encased sensor may be, but not limited to, flat, horizontal or vertical. The sensor material may be fitted into, for example, an electroencephalographic (EEG) grid, strip, or depth electrodes for recordings for ictal, interictal, intracranial imaging, for image-guided surgery and gamma-knife surgery in epilepsy or tumor patients, and the like. Sensors may also, for example, be fitted into stimulating electrodes for thalamic and globus pallidus recordings and the like in Parkinson's patients.

The construction portion of the sensor has a conducting and/or semi-conducting material, including for example, a conducting metal or semi-conducting metal, or combinations thereof. Non-limiting examples of the construction include: steel, stainless steel, silicon, germanium, silver, platinum, or gold, or combinations thereof.

The indicator portion of the sensor has at least one form of carbon, or combinations thereof, and at least one lipid or entity having a lipid, or combinations thereof. Carbon comes in several forms, including but not limited to, graphite, fullerenes, cylindrical fullerenes, buckminsterfullerenes, buckyballs, nanotubes, probingtubes, cold form carbon steel, white carbons, dioxosilane, diamonds, or combinations thereof. A lipid is any of a group of organic compounds, including fats, oils, waxes, sterols, and triglycerides, that are insoluble in water but soluble in non-polar organic solvents. Non-limiting examples of lipids, or entities having lipids, include fats, oils, animal fats or oils, plant fats or oils, mineral oils, nujol oil, glycerol containing lipids, membrane lipids, soaps or detergents, waxes, cells, cell components, stem cells, electroplaques, lipoproteins, fatty acids, glycerides, monoglycerides, diglycerides, triglycerides, artificial or synthesized fats or oils, heifer fats, ox-depot fats, Valeria indica fats, tallow, red tallow, Malabar tallow, vegetable tallow, cocoa butter, soybean oil, safflower oil, sesame oil, peanut oil, coconut oil, linoleic acid, linoleic acid in vegetable oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, or poppyseed oil, lauric acid, lauric acid in coconut oil, cholesterol, phosphotidylcholine, phosphotidylethanolamine, sphingomyelin, lecithin, lysolecithin, steroids, isoprenoids, eicosenoids, sodium alkyl benzene sulfonate, sodium lauryl sulfate, jejoba wax comprised of gadoleic acid, N-stearoylcerebroside, N-stearoylsphingosine, cardiolipin, or combinations thereof.

In one embodiment of the invention, the indicator may be pre-treated, inserted, or coated with a biomolecuk, or combinations thereof. Biomolecules include, but are not limited to, pharmaceutical compounds, pharmaceutical compounds specific for neurodegenerative or neuropsychiatric diseases, disorders, and conditions, neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, hormones, surfactants, soaps, detergents, pramipexole, topiramate, clozapine, dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, acetylcholine, adenosine, estrogen, vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin E, brain lipids, phosphotidylethanolamine, tallow, sodium lauryl sulfate, N-acetyl-aspartate, choline, lactate, uric acid, stabilizing proteins, amyloid proteins, ascorbic acid, γ-aminobutyric acid, glutamate, neurotensin, somatostatin, dynorphin, homovanillic acid, nucleic acids, tryptophan, tyrosine, nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, surfactants, or combinations thereof.

Non-limiting examples of sensor formulations include:

a) any form of carbon, fats and oils, with or without pre-treatment with a pharmaceutical compound for neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disease such as but not limited to pramipexole, topiramate and clozapine, or combinations thereof;

b) any form of carbon, fats and oils, with and without pre-treatment with neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, nucleic acids, hormones and vitamins, such as but not limited to dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, acetylcholine, adenosine, estrogen, vitamin A and vitamin E, or combinations thereof.

c) any form of carbon, fats and oils, with and without pre-treatment with surfactants, such as but not limited to, brain lipids, such as phosphotidylethanolamine and soaps and detergents, such as but not limited to, tallow and sodium lauryl sulfate, or combinations thereof.

d) graphite, lipids, fatty acids and nujol oil, with and without pre-treatment with biomolecules, such as those listed in a) through c) above.

e) graphite, lipids or fatty acids, and nujol oil, with or without pre-treatment with biomolecules, such as those listed in a) through c) above.

f) graphite, lipids, fatty acids, and nujol oil, with a coating and/or insertion of biomolecules within the inventive sensor, including such biomolecules listed in a) through c) above.

g) carbon or allotropes of carbon, an entity containing a lipid, where the entity includes but is not limited to cells, components of cells, stem cells, electroplaques, and lipoproteins, with and without pre-treatment with and/or insertion of biomolecules biomolecules within the inventive sensor, including such biomolecules listed in a) through c) above.

The sensors of the invention may be used in any or all methods described herein. In some embodiments, the size of the sensor is from less than about 1 nanometer to about 10 millimeters in width, and from less than about 1 nanometer to about 10 millimeters in length. The indicator portion having some form of carbon may be present in a useful amount ranging from about 1 microgram to about 100 grams, while the lipid which is incorporated, coated, or inserted in the carbon, is in an amount from about 1 microgram to about 100 grams.

In some embodiments, the following formulations of the indicator portion may be used in a sensor having an end face diameter of about 150 micrometers.

FORMULATION OTHER COMPONENTS AMOUNTS A Graphite 1.5 g Nujol oil 1.24 g Lauric acid 100 mg B Graphite 0.075 g Nujol oil 0.62 g N-Stearoylcerebroside 5 mg C Graphite 0.075 g Nujol oil 0.62 g N-Stearoylsphingosine 5 mg D Graphite 0.30 g Nujol oil 0.25 g Cardiolipin 20 mg

A critical element for sensor composition, in particular, the indicator portion, is the carbon. Carbon is found free in nature in three allotropic forms, amorphous, graphite and diamond. There are various forms of carbon, including but not limited to, graphite, fullerenes, cylindrical fullerenes, buckminsterfullerenes, buckyballs, nanotubes, probingtubes, cold form carbon steel, white carbons, dioxosilane, diamonds, or combinations thereof. Carbon is essential to detect other bioelements and biomolecules which diagnose and treat neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases, disorders, or diseases, such as, but not limited to praniipexole for Parkinson's disease, topiramate for epilepsy, and clozapine for organic psychosis, as well as for detecting any biomolecules in the body, for example, in blood or urine.

Because of carbon's unique bonding properties, millions of different organic chemicals exist in plants, and animals. Covalently bonded carbon atoms form the backbone of organic compounds; carbon has tremendous bonding versatility. Different conformations and different bond lengths are possible. Solid and semi-solid matter comprised of carbon, are cells, components of cells, such as but not limited to mitochondria and membranes and proteins, such as but not limited to amyloid proteins and their subtypes such as beta amyloid proteins. Three dimensional shapes and chiral and stereoisomers of carbon are important for biological and biochemical function. Cells and components of cells are comprised of and are reliable sources of, not only of carbon but also, fats, fatty acids, lipids, phospholipids, lipoproteins, neurotransmitters, neuromodulators and the like.

The bioelement, carbon, in its different forms, is critical to the material comprised in the indicator portion of the inventive sensor because of its excellent reducing agent property. It is used as such in purifying metals in electrodes and in electrical devices, steel tracer research, in chemical dating of jewelry, and in cutting glass. Also, critical to the use of carbon in the instant inventive sensor material, is the property of carbon which allows movement of electrons and thus conducts electricity and carbon is a semi-conductor as well. Carbon's adsorptive properties, such as in wastewater treatment systems, fuel and mining systems, automotive exhaust systems and it is adsorptive in the process of removing contaminants from drinking water. Carbon enables a substance to attach to the surface of another substance. Carbon comes in several forms, including but not limited to, graphite, fullerenes, cylindrical fullerenes, buckminsterfullerenes, buckyballs, nanotubes, probingtubes, cold form carbon steel, white carbons, dioxosilane, diamonds, or combinations thereof.

The indicator portions of the inventive sensors also have some type of lipid, fat, or oil. These are water-insoluble substances of plant, animal, or mineral origin, which are mainly comprised of glycerol esters of fatty acids or glycerides. Lipids are greasy oily substances which also contain glycerol. The word, “fat” is commonly used to refer to triglycerides that are solid or semi-solid at ordinary temperatures; the word “oil” connotes triglycerides in the liquid phase. The terminologies “fat” and “oil” are often interchanged. Therefore, a triglyceride is a condensation product of one molecule of glycerol and three molecules of fatty acid. A mixed triglyceride contains two different fatty acids and has four isomeric forms. Monoglycerides and diglycerides contain only one or two fatty acids respectively and consequently have two or one free hydroxyl groups. Monoglycerides and diglycerides do not occur naturally in appreciable quantities except in fats that have undergone partial hydrolysis. Animal and vegetable fats can have similar composition and thus, we must realize the importance of glyceride composition in determining the physical properties of fats and oils.

A lipid is any of a group of organic compounds, including fats, oils, waxes, sterols, and triglycerides, that are insoluble in water but soluble in non-polar organic solvents. Non-limiting examples of lipids, entities comprising lipid, fats, or oils useful in the inventive sensors include animal fats or oils, plant fats or oils, mineral oils, nujol oil, glycerol containing lipids, membrane lipids, soaps or detergents, waxes, cells, cell components, stem cells, electroplaques, lipoproteins, fatty acids, glycerides, monoglycerides, diglycerides, triglycerides, artificial or synthesized fats or oils, heifer fats, ox-depot fats, Valeria indica fats, tallow, red tallow, Malabar tallow, vegetable tallow, cocoa butter, soybean oil, safflower oil, sesame oil, peanut oil, coconut oil, linoleic acid, linoleic acid in vegetable oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, or poppyseed oil, lauric acid, lauric acid in coconut oil, cholesterol, phosphotidylcholine, phosphotidylethanolamine, sphingomyelin, lecithin, lysolecithin, steroids, isoprenoids, eicosenoids, sodium alkyl benzene sulfonate, sodium lauryl sulfate, jejoba wax comprised of gadoleic acid, N-stearoylcerebroside, N-stearoylsphingosine, cardiolipin, or combinations thereof.

Surfactants generally act to lower surface tension. Surfactants are composed of relatively large molecules which contain widely separated groups of a dissimilar nature such as is seen with the biomolecules. They are generally organic compounds that are amphipathic, and are typically sparingly soluble in both organic solvents and water. Surfactants are useful for their capability to reduce surface tension as well as to assist the migration of and to orient molecules or biomolecules.

The diversity of the charged parts (indicator and/or construction portions) of the instant inventive sensor allow for versatility in the charge-transfer or electron-transfer mechanisms of the instant inventive sensors. The versatility in the electron-transfer mechanism allows for versatility in current production, thereby causing not only enhanced signaling in brain, body fluids, and biomolecules but also allowing different degrees of electron-transfer, which directly correlates to different concentrations of biomolecules according to the Cottrell Equation. Even the type of lipid, e.g., provides versatility in the electron-transfer process. For example, the instant inventive sensor (indicator and/or construction portions) which is coated with the lipid, phosphotidylethanolamine, produces significantly enhanced signals for the biomolecules. Low energy surface of the interfacial regions (or end face), a smaller angle of contact at the end face, and greater migration of molecules into an adjacent liquid phase all contribute to the novel and unexpected enhanced signaling mechanisms using surfactants in the instant inventive sensor.

Furthermore, the ability of surface-active biomolecules and/or surfactants to migrate to the interface of a solution and therefore form an oriented or adsorbed film biomolecules and/or surfactants may be one of several key properties for the mechanism of action of the instant inventions.

Adsorption is the ability of a molecule to attach to, for example, the surface of the instant inventive sensor. Adsorption at the surface of the instant inventive sensor provides an unexpected and surprising memory mechanism, which may be a reflection of a particular biomolecule, for example, but not limited to, neurotransmitters, neuromodulators and/or particular pharmaceutical compounds used to treat neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders, and the like. The reflection of the biomolecules may occur whether or not pretreatment is part of the empirical protocol, as the sensor can be placed in contact with the molecule(s) one or more times so that the consistency of the specificity of the electron transfer (charge transfer) process will produce the image.

Without wishing to be bound by theory, between the surface of the instant inventive sensor and the biomolecule per se, weak covalent bonds are formed by adsorption of the biomolecule onto the surface of the instant inventive sensor, which is also comprised of adsorptive carbon or carbon allotropes. Although weak covalent bonding may provide a rationale for the memory or reflective image of the biomolecule produced by the instant inventive sensor, it is plausible that a number of other interactions may occur between the biomolecule and the instant inventions. Chemisorption is an adsorptive interaction between a molecule and a surface in which electron density is shared by the adsorbed molecule or molecules and the sensor surface. Physisorption is another plausible explanation for the reflective adsorptive image on the instant inventions. In this mechanism, a biomolecule does not actually undergo a specific chemical bonding. Physisorption involves an electrostatic attraction or dipole-dipole interaction but no real chemical bonds are made. Instead, there is a sharing of electrons between the biomolecule and the instant inventive sensor material, that is to say, as the adsorbate, i.e., the biomolecule migrates closer to the surface of the sensor, the dipole moment of the adsorbate induces an image dipole. Since dipoles attract each other and generate an electromagnetic field on the surface, the electromagnetic field may factor into reflection or imaging of the biomolecule or biomolecules on the part of the instant sensor invention.

Other possible explanations are provided by interactions which occur in unsaturated fatty acids which have double or triple bonds. In this interaction, memory or reflective image may occur in the instant inventive sensor by the formation of pi bonds. Such a pi bond interaction may occur between the surface of the instant inventive sensor and biomolecules which are aromatic, benzene-like and molecules which contain a phenyl or phenyl groups such as those which are cited in the embodiment of the instant inventive sensors. Pi-bonds may account for the detection of straight chain amino acid compounds, such as acetylcholine, and benzene-like compounds, such as monoamines, with the instant inventive sensors. (Adamson, A. W., Textbook of Physiacal Chemistry, Academic Press, New York, 1973; Kissinger, P. T., Heineman, W. R., (Editors) Laboratory Techniques in Electroanalytic Chemistry, Second Edition, Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York, 1996; Kamat, P. Y., Asmus, K. D., “What's all the excitement about?” Interface, The Electrochemical Society, Volume 5 (number 1), 1996; Dohnalek, Z., Kim, H., Bondarchuk, O., White, J. M., Kay, B. D., Physisorption of Ni₂O₂, and CO on fully oxidized TiO₂ (110) J. Phys. Chem. B Con dens Matter Mater Surf Interfaces Biophys. 110 (12): 6629-6635, 2006; Mattil, K. F., Norris, F.A., Stirton, A. J., Swern, D., Bailey's Industrial Oil and Fat Products, (Edited by Swern, D.) Interscience Publishers, a Division of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Third Edition, 1964; and Hui, Y. H. (Editor), Bailey's Industrial Oil and Fat Products, Edible Oil and Fat Products: Oil and Oil Seeds, A Wiley-Interscience Publication, Volume 2, Fifth Edition, 1996, all of which are incorporated herein by reference).

In one embodiment, the sensor may be in the form of a miniature stainless steel flat, circular disk construction in which the indicator comprises graphite incorporated or coated with cerebrosides, stearoyl, lauric acid, or the like, or combinations thereof, and the indicator is further incorporated or coated with biomolecules including but are not limited to, pharmaceutical compounds, pharmaceutical compounds specific for neurodegenerative or neuropsychiatric diseases, disorders, and conditions, neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, hormones, surfactants, soaps, detergents, pramipexole, topiramate, clozapine, dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, acetylcholine, adenosine, estrogen, vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin E, brain lipids, phosphotidylethanolamine, tallow, sodium lauryl sulfate, N-acetyl-aspartate, choline, lactate, uric acid, stabilizing proteins, amyloid proteins, ascorbic acid, γ-aminobutyric acid, glutamate, neurotensin, somatostatin, dynorphin, homovanillic acid, nucleic acids, tryptophan, tyrosine, nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, or combinations thereof, are completely or partially encased in polytetrafluoroethylene. The sensor may either exist alone or act as a partner to the electroencephalograph grids (EEG) for an epilepsy and/or tumor patient, where a reference and auxiliary electrode may also be present.

Another embodiment relates to a 2- or 3-sensor assembly, enclosed in a biocompatible plastic “carry on cap” which has the ability to be removed and reinserted into specific parts or locations of patient brains. The intracranial recordings recorded using the inventive sensors in a 2- or 3-sensor assembly significantly depart from conventional means in that neurochemicals and neuronal firing rates are determined simultaneously. Also, accompanying devices work, hand in hand, with sensors, have several sets of operational amplifiers which provide mapping of several neuroanatomic sites simultaneously. However, one skilled in the art would understand that separate sensors that are not grouped in a sensor assembly may be just as easily be used to obtain recordings. Furthermore, the inventive sensors as described herein may be used in conjunction with other sensors, such as, but not limited to reference electroodes

Broderick probes can be used effectively for different applications in human and animal surgery, as well as a diagnostic tool for testing, for example, blood, urine and/or various regions of the body. Preliminary studies with Broderick probe stearic versus lauric acid electrodes in vitro, in situ, and in vivo showed a possible advantage for the lauric acid electrodes for use short-term, e.g., intraoperative recordings, and a possible advantage for stearic acid for use long-term, e.g., chronic monitoring in humans and animals (Broderick P A, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,057; Broderick P A, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,710; Broderick P A, 1997, EP 0487647 B1; Broderick P A, 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,903; Broderick P A, 1999, Hong Kong, H K #1007350; Hope O et al., 1995, Cocaine has remarkable nucleus accumbens effects on line; with behavior in the serotonin-deficient Fawn Hooded rat. NIH/NIGMS Symposium, Washington, D.C.).

Broderick probes can detect basal (normal, natural, endogenous or steady state) concentrations of neurotransmitters and other neurochemicals in vivo, in situ and in vitro. They can also detect alterations in these neurotransmitters or neurochemicals in brain, or body before and after pharmacological manipulation with drugs or other compounds. Neurochemicals during actual, induced or even mimicked brain diseases can be detected as well. Example 5 focuses on 5-HT alterations in NAcc in freely moving animals during normal open-field behaviors of locomotor (exploratory) and stereotypy compared with, in the same animal, cocaine psychomotor stimulant effects on 5-HT and behavior.

Changing the surface of the sensor changes the capacitance of the surface of the sensor. The surface of the indicator electrode is a capacitance diffuse double layer (C_(dt)) that allows potential to accumulate on its surface. Capacitance is a critical aspect of charging (background) current. Charging current is a current pulse that flows through the C_(dt) to allow faradaic electron transfer to begin. Accumulation of potential on the surface of the indicator electrode is necessary for faradaic electron transfer. Charging current is proportional to electrode surface area; therefore, these miniature sensors (200 microns and less in diameter) minimize charging current effects.

Broderick probes or sensors can be used in conjunction with classical electrical circuits used in electrochemistry such as chronoamperometry, differential pulse voltammetry and double differential voltammetry. Another electrical circuit for providing an output signal having a mathematical relationship in operation to an input signal can be semiderivative or semidifferential. These two terms are used interchangeably here, although these two circuits have some technical differences. Semiderivative electroanalysis diminishes non-faradaic current by the addition of analysis time. In the present studies, a CV 37 detector (BAS, West Lafayette, Ind.) was equipped with a semiderivative circuit. This circuit uses a linear scanning methodology as its basis. Semiderivative treatment of voltammetric data means that the signals are recorded mathematically as the first half derivative of the linear analog signal. A semiderivative circuit combines an additional series of resistors and capacitors, called a “ladder network” (Oldham, K, 1973, Anal. Chem. 45:39-50) with the traditional linear scanning technology which then allows more clearly defined waveforms and peak amplitudes of electrochemical signals than was previously possible with linear scanning methodology.

Broderick probe microvoltammograms may be plotted as current versus time or as current versus applied potential. Other renderings are also possible. The concentration of biogenic amines and other materials may be deduced from these microvoltammograms, e.g. according to the Cottrell equation. According to the invention, a microvoltammogram is broadly defined as any rendering of the signals from a Broderick probe susceptible to human perception including, but not limited to, paper, electronic, and virtual representations of the Broderick probe signal. An individual of sufficient skill in the art to perceive a Broderick probe signal in real-time, e.g. from a visual display screen, is also within the contemplation and scope of this definition.

The main strength of in vivo microvoltammetry (electrochemistry) is that it allows the study of the neurochemical time course of action of normal neurochemistry, as well as the neurochemistry after an administered drug regimen. Temporal resolution is fast, in seconds and milliseconds. Moreover, the attendant microspatial resolution is superior (availability of discrete areas of brain without disruption). Both highly sensitive temporal and spatial resolution makes these studies ultimately most efficient for mechanism of action studies Another strength lies in the fact that these in vivo microvoltammetric studies are done in the freely moving and behaving animal model, using the same animal as its own control (studies in the living human brain are underway as well). Thus, a direct determination of whether or not a neurochemical effect is abnormal can be made because the normal neurochemical effect is seen a priori.

The basic in vivo electrochemistry experiment involves the implantation of an indicator electrode or sensor in a discrete and specified region of brain, the application of a potential to that electrode or sensor, the oxidation or reduction of the selected neurochemical or biomolecule and the recording of the resultant current. In essence, the potential is applied between the indicator or sensor, and the reference electrode; the reference electrode provides a relative zero potential to sense the amount of current produced by the flow of electrons from the biomolecule through the indicator. This is an electrochemical technique with which information about an analyte, a neurotransmitter, or its metabolite, including its concentration, is derived from an electrochemical current as a function of a potential difference. This potential difference is applied to the surface of an electrochemical electrode. Additionally, an auxiliary electrode provides an electrical ground.

In microvoltammetry, each neurotransmitter, metabolite, precursor to neurotransmitter, etc. is identified by the peak oxidation potential, or half-wave potential at which the neurochemical generates its maximum current. Using the Broderick Probe stearic acid electrode inserted in NAcc, the oxidation potential at which DA generates its maximum current in vivo (physiological pH, 37.5° C.) was empirically determined to be +0.140 V (SE±0.015 V) in over one thousand studies. The oxidation potential at which serotonin generates its maximum current under the same conditions was empirically determined to be +0.290 V (SE±0.015 V) in over one thousand studies.

What matters in microvoltammetry is that each of these biogenic amines have amine groups that are protonated at neutral pH and therefore, exist as cations, whereas metabolites of the monoamines are deprotonated at neutral pH and exist as anions (Coury L A et al., 1989, Biotechnology 11:1-37). Thus, the monoamine metabolites such as the metabolites of DA, 3, 4 dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, (DOPAC), 3,4-dihydroxyphenylglycol (DHPG-DOPEG) and homovanillic acid (HVA) cannot interfere with the detection of DA at the same peak oxidation potential or half-wave potential, characteristic for DA.

The same principles are applicable to detection of the biogenic amine, 5-HT. Serotonin is detected without interference at the same oxidation potential or half-wave potential from either its metabolite, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) or UA, which is a constituent of brain with similar electroactive properties to those of 5-HT. Factors such as the significantly lower sensitivity of the indicator electrode to anions, the charge and diffusion characteristics of each catecholamine or indoleamine vis--vis its metabolites, preclude such interference. Descriptions of each neurochemical detected by this inventor with Broderick probes are published in detail (Broderick P A, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,710; Broderick P A, 1996, EP 90914306.7; Broderick P A, 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,903; Broderick P A, 1989, Brain Res. 495:115-121; Broderick P A, 1988, Neurosci. Lett. 95:275-280; Broderick P A, 1990, Electroanalysis 2:241-245; Broderick P A, 1993, Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 46:973-984; Broderick P A, 2002, Handbook of Neurotoxicology, Vol. 2, Chapter 13; Broderick P A et al., 2000, Brain Res. 878:48-63; Broderick P A et al., 1997, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 21(3):227-260; Broderick P A, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,057; Broderick P A, 1997, EP 0487647 B1; Broderick P A, 1999, Hong Kong, H K #1007350; Broderick P A, 2000, Epilepsia 41(Suppl.):91).

An important distinction between the detection of signals in microvoltammetry as compared with the detection of signals in microdialysis is that in microvoltammetry, the indicator electrode is the detecting device, whereas in microdialysis methods, the dialysis membrane is a membrane and not the detecting device. The microdialysis membrane is simply a membrane through which perfusate is collected. The perfusate is then brought to the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) device, equipped with an electrochemical column that is the actual detecting device. These electrochemical columns range in millimeters in diameter, whereas microvoltammetry indicator electrodes range from single digit microns to a few hundred microns in diameter.

A common misconception is that a microdialysis membrane is a detecting device which, in turn leads, incorrectly, to direct comparisons between microdialysis membranes and microvoltammetry indicator detecting devices. Whether or not microdialysis membranes are the same size as voltammetry electrodes is irrelevant because the microdialysis membrane is not the detection technology. Microdialysis membranes simply collect perfusate from brain and this perfusate is then analyzed by HPLC.

Dialysis is a technique based on semipermeability of a collection membrane and is not, itself, a detection technique. Existing methods of detecting glutamate by microdialysis followed by HPLC and electrochemical (EC) detection, actually detect a derivative of glutamate rather than glutamate itself. Similarly, microdialysis methods of detecting the neurotransmitter acetylcholine are based on detecting hydrogen peroxide, not acetylcholine itself (Stoecker P W et al., 1990, Selective Electrode Rev. 12:137-160). Moreover, correlation between the derivative of glutamate or H₂O₂ detected and the Cottrell Equation has never been addressed. Therefore, detection of straight chain carbon compounds by the microdialysis membrane method may be questionable. Broderick probes offer an attractive alternative since they may be able to directly detect glutamate or acetylcholine.

Generally, quantitation of neurochemistry is described as a percentage of a few data points, over hours, used as “control” in microdialysis studies. However, Broderick probes are easily calibrated and concentrations are interpolated from calibration curves (Broderick P A et al., 2000, Brain Res. 878:49-63).

In one embodiment of the invention, the inventive sensors may be used in neurosurgical procedures. These procedures are guided by a surgeon's visual inspection of the brain using his/her knowledge of neuroanatomy correlated with imaging studies generally performed prior to surgery or intraoperatively. The location of the tip of a surgeon's instrument through a three dimensional space co-registration of the surface coordinates on the patient's head identified on a preoperative imaging study assist in guiding the surgeon. The three-dimensional space co-registration can then be co-registered to a three space coordinate system on the surgeon's instrument.

Image-guided neurosurgery involves focus localization and is different from the conventional interictal and ictal scalp and intracranial electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings. Focus localization with image-guided neurosurgery involves EEG recordings obtained and topographically characterized. Using the image directed system, the EEG electrode position is correlated physiologically and anatomically with the surgical field. Augmented intraoperative localization and surgical treatment of, for example, epilepsy and tumors by interactive image-guided technology, integrates the neuropsychological, electrophysiological and anatomical data to the surgical field.

One of the advantages of using Broderick probes with microvoltammetry is that microvoltammograms may be obtained from freely moving and behaving living animals and humans. Thus, in some embodiments of the invention another parameter may be monitored and/or recorded. For example, a Broderick probe microvoltammogram may be acquired from a subject while simultaneously monitoring and/or recording the subject's movements (e.g. ambulations and/or fine motor movements). Other examples of parameters that may be monitored and/or recorded include, inter alia, the presence and concentration of a drug, protein, nucleic acid, (e.g. mRNA), carbohydrate, or lipid; consciousness of the subject, cognitive functions, self-administration paradigms, reward-stimulus paradigms, electrophysiological functions, and memory.

The invention provides a variety of methods for identification, diagnosis, and treatment of neuropathologies, neurotoxicities, tumors, and brain and spinal cord injuries using electrodes with microvoltammetry. These methods comprise comparing Broderick probe microvoltammograms from at least two different tissues. One these tissues is generally a reference tissue or control. The other is tissue is that being assayed. Preferably, the reference tissue corresponds to the assay tissue with respect to, for example, tissue type, anatomical location, and/or stage of development.

One embodiment of the instant invention utilizes the sensors for identifying particular biomolecules, where the sensors may or may not be pre-treated with the biomolecules. Identifying the presence of specific biomolecules may result in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, conditions, or disorders, as well as, of any addiction. Biomolecules include but are not limited to, pharmaceutical compounds, pharmaceutical compounds specific for neurodegenerative or neuropsychiatric diseases, disorders, and conditions, neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, hormones, surfactants, soaps, detergents, pramipexole, topiramate, clozapine, dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, acetylcholine, adenosine, estrogen, vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin E, brain lipids, phosphotidylethanolamine, tallow, sodium lauryl sulfate, N-acetyl-aspartate, choline, lactate, uric acid, stabilizing proteins, amyloid proteins, ascorbic acid, γ-aminobutyric acid, glutamate, neurotensin, somatostatin, dynorphin, homovanillic acid, nucleic acids, tryptophan, tyrosine, nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, or combinations thereof. Changes in the presence or absence of biomolecules compared to normal conditions assist in the determination of, for example, disease, cancer, malignant or benign, tumor growth, drug addiction, or necrosis. Biomolecules are used as markers to diagnose and treat diseases, conditions, or disorders. Some biomolecules are particularly good as markers for certain diseases, conditions, or disorders. For example, uric acid, N-acetyl-aspartate, choline, and lactate are effective markers for brain tumors. Effective markers for epilepsy include, but are not limited to, N-acetyl-aspartate, choline, creatinine, dopamine, seratonin, glutamate, and γ-aminobutyric acid. Dopamine is also a useful marker for Parkinson's disease. Whereas for schizophrenia and drug addictions, such as for example cocaine addiction, dopamine and serotonin biomolecules are useful.

In some embodiments of the invention, the comparison is performed between microvoltammograms taken from the same tissue at different times. In some embodiments, the microvoltammograms compared are taken from the same tissue before and after exposure to a material such as a drug. In some embodiments, a tissue suspected of being diseased is compared with healthy tissue.

Such comparisons may make it possible to diagnose and/or treat a wide variety of diseases or conditions that are associated with abnormal neurotransmitter levels. The invention provides methods comprising exposing at least a cell to a diagnostic challenge or therapeutic treatment, contacting said cell with a Broderick porbe, applying a potential to said Broderick probe; and generating a Broderick probe microvoltammogram. A diagnostic challenge may be designed to elicit a differential response from cells of interest, e.g. diseased cells, from other cells, e.g. healthy cells. A therapeutic treatment may or therapeutic treatment may be known or intended to cure or ameliorate a disease condition. Alternatively, a treatment may be assessed for its capacity to serve as a diagnostic indicator or therapeutic treatment. A diagnostic challenge or a therapeutic treatment may comprise exposing the cell(s) to a material such as a small molecule drug or drug candidate, a defined electrochemical environment (e.g. application of a potential to the cell(s)), exposure to an isotopic or nonisotopic label, activation or repression of a preselected gene, or combinations thereof.

Disorders of basal ganglia, such as athetoid, dystonic diseases, and cancer may be studied with the Broderick probe. An example of an athetoid, dystonic disease is Lesch Nyhan Syndrome (LNS). This recently recognized disease is characterized by severe athetoid and dystonic movements, self-mutilation, and repetitive oral stereotypies. Patients suffering from LNS may have to have their teeth removed to avoid oral stereotypies that cause the patient to devour lips, tongues or fingers. The stereotypies involve DA and 5-HT (Allen SM et al., 1999, Behav. Pharmacol. 10:467-474) and high levels of UA (Patten J, 1980, Neurological Differential Diagnosis, pp. 127-128). Other athetoid and dystonic diseases, such as autism, spinal cord injury, schizophrenia, epilepsy and Parkinson's, are amenable for study with these miniature sensors, even intraoperatively, insofar as epilepsy and Parkinson's are concerned. Several reports indicate that various cancers are also amenable for study with these miniature sensors (Broderick P A, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,057; Broderick P A, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,710; Broderick P A, 1997, EP 0487647 B1; Broderick P A, 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,903; Broderick P A, 1999, Hong Kong, H K #1007350; Broderick P A, 1988, Neurosci. Lett. 95:275-280; Broderick P A, 1989, Brain Res. 495:115-121; Broderick P A, 1990, Electroanalysis 2:241-251; Broderick P A, 2000, Epilepsia 41(Suppl.):91; Broderick P A et al., 2000, Brain Res. 878:49-63).

Much of the difficulty in determining the importance of the alterations in relative concentrations of neurotransmitters and their relationship to epileptogenesis in temporal lobe epilepsy relates to the variability in both the etiology of epilepsy and the location of the epileptogenic zone in epilepsy patients. Few studies have analyzed monoamine concentrations in human epileptic tissue. Those that have studied resected temporal lobe tissue have not distinguished between neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy and mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patients. Neocortical temporal lobe tissue that was part of the ictal onset zone as verified by intracranial EEG recordings of seizures in patients with neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy was examined according to the invention. As previously described (Doyle W K et al., 1997, Epilepsy: A Comprehensive Textbook, pp. 1807-1815), the anterior temporal neocortex in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy is routinely removed at our center to gain access to the mesial temporal structures, providing neocortical tissue controls for our study. While patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy may have coexisting neocortical abnormalities like cortical dysplasia (CD), none of the mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patients included in this study had pathologically confirmed CD. Secondary changes such as mild diffuse gliosis were found in the temporal neocortex of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patients, but we hypothesized that the normal neurochemical profile may still be preserved compared to the actively seizing neocortical tissue analyzed in our neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy patients.

The invention provides devices and methods for diagnosing temporal lobe epilepsy comprising generating a temporally resolved Broderick probe microvoltammogram of a temporal lobe tissue of a subject; and comparing said microvoltammogram to at least one reference Broderick probe microvoltammogram; wherein said reference is a Broderick probe microvoltammogram of the corresponding temporal lobe tissue of another individual. In some embodiments of the invention, the subject's microvoltammogram is compared with one or more reference or control microvoltammograms from a healthy individual, an individual having mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, an individual having neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy, or combinations thereof.

The invention provides diagnostic devices and methods for brain cancer. In some embodiments the methods comprise: generating a temporally resolved Broderick probe microvoltammetric profile of cancerous cells or tissue; determining from said profile the presence and concentration of at least two markers or biomolecules comprising pharmaceutical compounds, neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, hormones, surfactants, soaps, detergents, dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, acetylcholine, adenosine, estrogen, vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin E, brain lipids, phosphotidylethanolamine, tallow, sodium lauryl sulfate, N-acetyl-aspartate, choline, lactate, uric acid, stabilizing proteins, amyloid proteins, ascorbic acid, γ-aminobutyric acid, glutamate, neurotensin, somatostatin, dynorphin, homovanillic acid, nucleic acids, tryptophan, tyrosine, nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, or combinations thereof; and comparing said marker or biomolecule concentrations to specific threshold values of each of the markers to determine the presence of statistically significant concentration differences, preferably P<0.05; wherein said threshold values are derived from Broderick probe microvoltammetric profile(s) of healthy cells or tissue and said step of comparing said markers distinguishes whether the cancerous cells are present in gray matter or white matter. In other embodiments, the diagnostic methods comprise generating a temporally resolved Broderick probe microvoltammetric profile of a tissue having or at risk of having a tumor; comparing said microvoltammogram to at least one reference Broderick probe microvoltammogram; wherein said reference is a Broderick probe microvoltammogram of corresponding tissue of a healthy individual, cultured cells thereof, corresponding tissue of a an individual having a tumor, cultured cells thereof, or combinations thereof.

The invention also provides diagnostic devices and methods for brain or spinal cord injury. In some embodiments of the invention these methods comprise: generating a temporally resolved Broderick probe microvoltammogram of a tissue of a mammal having or being at risk of developing a brain or spinal cord injury; simultaneously monitoring movement of said mammal; and comparing said microvoltammogram and movement behavior to a reference or control microvoltammogram of corresponding tissue of a healthy tissue and reference movement behavior of a healthy individual. In addition, the invention provides methods for detecting a site of nerve damage or blockage. These methods may comprise generating a temporally resolved Broderick probe microvoltammogram of a tissue of said mammal; simultaneously monitoring movement of said mammal; and comparing said microvoltammogram and movement behavior to a reference microvoltammogram of corresponding tissue of a healthy tissue and reference movement behavior of a healthy individual, where the microvoltammogram uses the inventive sensor.

The invention provides devices and methods for treating temporal lobe epilepsy comprising generating a temporally resolved Broderick probe microvoltammogram of a temporal lobe tissue of a subject having or at risk of developing a temporal lobe epilepsy; comparing said microvoltammogram to at least one reference Broderick probe microvoltammogram; determining the type and extent of temporal lobe resection necessary to achieve a substantially seizure free outcome; and resecting the subject's temporal lobe accordingly. In some embodiments of the invention, the subject's microvoltammogram is compared with one or more reference microvoltammograms from a healthy individual, an individual having mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, an individual having neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy, or combinations thereof.

Brain or spinal cord injuries as well as nerve damage or blockage treatment may include generating Broderick probe microvoltammograms during therapy, i.e. while a pharmacological therapy or kinesitherapy is being administered. Broderick probe microvoltammograms may be acquired continuously during therapy or at intervals. Likewise, cancer treatments may be adapted to include Broderick probe microvoltammetry during therapy. By generating Broderick probe microvoltammograms, it may be possible to monitor tumor size.

The invention contemplates the use of microvoltammetry to assess the neurotoxicity of any material. In some embodiments of the invention, Broderick probe microvoltammograms are acquired from a neural cell or tissue in the presence and absence of the subject material. Materials that may be tested include controlled substances (e.g. opiates, stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens), anti-depressants, anti-epilepsy drugs, and other psychopharmacological substances.

The term “controlled substances” refers to all substances listed in 21 C.F.R. §1308 even where those referenced only as exceptions. It further includes all salts, geometric and stereoisomers, and derivatives of substances listed therein.

Opiates include, inter alia, alfentanil, alphaprodine, anileridine, apomorphine, bezitramide, carfentanil, cocaine, codeine, 4-cyano-2-dimethylamino-4,4-diphenyl butane, 4-cyano-1-methyl-4-phenylpip-eridine pethidine-intermediate-B, dextropropoxyphene, dextrorphan, dihydrocodeine, dihydroetorphine, diphenoxylate, 1-gdiphenylpropane-carbo-xylic acid pethidine (meperidine), ecgonine, ethyl-4-phenylpiperidine-4-ca-rboxylate pethidine-intermediate-C, ethylmorphine, etorphine hydrochloride, fentanyl, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, isomethadone, levo-alphacetylmethadol, levomethorphan, levorphanol, metazocine, methadone, methadone-intermediate, 2-methyl-3-morpholino-1, 1-methyl-4-phenylpiperidine-4-carboxylic acid, metopon, morphine, moramide-intermediate, nalbuphine, nalmefene, naloxone, naltrexone, opium, oxycodone, oxymorphone, pethidine-intermediate-A, phenanthrene alkaloidsphenazocine, piminodine, racemethorphan, racemorphan, remifentanil, sufentanil, thebaine, and thebaine-derived butorphanol.

Stimulants include substances having a stimulant effect on the central nervous system such as, inter alia, amphetamine, methamphetamine, phenmetrazine, methylphenidate, and salts, isomers, and salts of isomers thereof.

Depressants include substances having a depressant effect on the central nervous system such as, inter alia, amobarbital, glutethimide, pentobarbital, phencyclidine, and secobarbital

Hallucinogens include, inter alia, nabilone.

Anti-depression drugs include, inter alia, citalopram, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, fluoxetine, sertraline, amitriptyline, desipramine, nortriptyline, venlafaxine, phenelzine, tranylcypromine, mirtazepine, nefazodone, trazodone, and bupropion.

Anti-epilepsy drugs include, inter alia, carbamazepine, clorazepate, clopazine, ethosuximide, felbamate, gabapentin, lamotrigine, phenobarbital, phenytoin, primidone, topiramate, and valproic acid.

The neurological side effects including neurotoxicity of any pharmaceutical may be assayed according to the methods of the invention. Neurotoxicity of other substances such as minerals, ions, metals (e.g. heavy metals such as mercury and lead), caffeine, ethanol, nicotine, cannabinoids proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, glycolipids, and lipoproteins may also be assessed using methods of the invention.

The contents of all patents, patent applications, published PCT applications and articles, books, references, reference manuals and abstracts cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety to more fully describe the state of the art to which the invention pertains.

As various changes may be made in the above-described subject matter without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention, it is intended that all subject matter contained in the above description, or defined in the appended claims, be interpreted as descriptive and illustrative of the present invention. Many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings.

EXAMPLES

The Examples herein are meant to exemplify the various aspects of carrying out the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way. The Examples do not include detailed descriptions for conventional methods employed that are well known to those skilled in the art and are described in numerous publications. Other embodiments will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art and do not depart from the scope of the invention. All references described herein are expressly incorporated in toto by reference.

Example 1

BRODERICK PROBE® sensors may have different formulations, e.g., cerebrosides and oleic acid; however, for these studies, the laurate sensor was used because it reaches steady state quickly. Although these sensors can be manufactured at any size or any length, for these studies, the laurate sensors comprising an indicator and construction. The construction portion was made of a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE; Teflon®) coated stainless steel wire having a diameter of 150 μm (Medwire, Mount Vernon, N.Y.). The coating was gently pulled 500 μm over the stainless steel tip to form a well. The well, or indicator portion, was packed with a graphite paste modified with (99+%) lauric acid. The graphite/lauric acid (Ultra Carbon, Bay City Mich.) (Sigma, St. Louis, Mo.) was admixed with mineral oil (a.k.a. Nujol) containing DL-alpha tocopherol as a stabilizer (Plough Inc., Memphis, Tenn.).

The reference microelectrode was constructed by electrochemically coating silver wire (Medwire, Mount Vernon, N.Y.) with chloride ions by applying a 2 mA current to the silver wire in a 1M NaCl solution for one-half hour. The Ag/Ag/Cl reference should not differ from any commercial Ag/Ag/Cl reference microelectrode by more than 2.5 mV. Reference microelectrodes should be stored in 50 microliters of physiological saline.

The auxiliary microelectrode was a simple construction of stainless steel, covered with a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE; Teflon®) with the stainless steel removed at the tip (diameter=150 um) (Broderick, P. A., 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,710; Broderick, P. A., 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,903; Broderick P A and Pacia, S V, US Patent U.S. Ser. No. 10/118,571, 2006).

Combustion analyses and gas chromatographic analyses were performed on 5 mg of the mixture to determine the graphite content and the lauric acid content, respectively. Each sensor used approximately 1 mg of the mixture.

Example 2 Human Epilepsy

Fourteen patients who had temporal lobectomies for intractable seizures were studied. Patients underwent intraoperative surgery within the same time period and were studied in order of time, within the same time period. Patients were classified as having mesial temporal lobe epilepsy if pathologic examination of the resected temporal lobe revealed severe hippocampal neuronal loss and gliosis and if examination of the neocortex revealed no other etiology for the patient's epilepsy. Nine patients were classified as mesial temporal lobe epilepsy based on these features. Five patients were classified as having neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy based on the lack of hippocampal atrophy on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and demonstration of seizure onset in temporal neocortex during chronic intracranial EEG study with lateral temporal subdural grid electrodes and multiple baso-mesial temporal subdural strip electrodes.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a Broderick Probe electrode. The electrode manufacturing process has been published in detail elsewhere (Broderick P A, 1993, Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 46:973-984; Broderick P A, 2002, Handbook of Neurotoxicology, Vol. 2, Chapter 13; Broderick P A et al., 2000, Brain Res. 878:48-63). Studies revealed no promotion of bacterial growth on the electrodes with and without gamma irradiation (Sterigenics, N.C.).

The in vivo microvoltammetric measurement was made through the application of a potential (in mV) between the indicator (working) electrode and a Ag/AgCl reference electrode. Current is formed at the indicator electrode that corresponds to the separate electroactive species for dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, and ascorbic acid. The resultant electrochemical measurements are called Faradaic because the amount of the oxidative/reductive species detected at the electrode surface is calculated by Faraday's Law, which shows that a direct proportionality exists between the charge and the mass of a chemical. The proportionality between charge and mass is described by the Cottrell equation.

Potentials were applied to the working electrode with respect to the Ag/AgCl electrode by a CV37 detector-potentiostat, electrically connected to a Minigard Surge Suppressor which is then connected to an isolated electric ground. Each neurotransmitter and neuromodulator was detected within seconds of release at a scan rate of 10 mV/s (see FIGS. 3A&B). In vivo microvoltammetric signatures for neurotransmitters and neuromodulators were determined by experimentally established oxidation potentials. Oxidation potentials were delineated in millivolts. Additionally, lauric acid electrodes may be employed for intraoperative recordings due to their extremely rapid equilibration time (Broderick P A et al., 1999, Epilepsia 40(supp17):78-79).

Resected temporal lobe tissue from 14 epilepsy patients was examined in a medium of Ringer's Lactate Buffer solution. Samples were taken from the antero-lateral temporal neocortex. In a faradaic chamber, a reference and an auxiliary electrode were placed in contact with the surface of the specimen and a stearate indicator electrode stereotaxically was inserted dorsoventrally, about 2 mm into the brain tissue, in situ. With the triple electrode assembly in place, potentials were applied and scanned at a rate of 10 mV/sec from an initial voltage of −0.2 V up to a voltage of +0.9 V. The electrochemical signals were recorded on a strip chart recorder.

Table 1 lists the concentrations of norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine found in the lateral temporal neocortex (Band of Baillarger) of the nine mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and five neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy patients. Representative Broderick probe voltammograms from patients 8 and 14 are shown in FIG. 4. Four of five neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy patients had no detectable norepinephrine in temporal neocortex while norepinephrine was present in temporal neocortex of eight of nine mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patients (Chi Square, p<0.01). The mean norepinephrine concentration was 21.1 nM±5.8 nM. Statistical significance was analyzed by the median according to the Mann-Whitney Rank Sum, (p<0.065) for the mesial temporal lobe epilepsy group. In contrast dopamine was detected in the temporal neocortex of three of five neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy patients but in only one of the mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patients (Chi Square, p<0.05). The mean dopamine concentration for the neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy group was 16.7 nM±7.6 nM. Individual dopamine concentration for each neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy patient was compared with dopamine concentration from each mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patient. Dopamine was significantly greater in neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy vs. mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (Mann-Whitney Rank Sum, p<0.027).

TABLE 1 Monoamine Concentrations in the Neocortex (Band of Baillarger) in MTLE and NTLE Patients. Patient # MTLE Patient # NTLE 1 NE 5-HT 10 DA 5-HT 48.3 1.5 17.8 2.0 2 NE 5-HT 11 DA 5-HT  8.6 1.7 29.2 2.1 3 NE 5-HT 12 AA 5-HT  5.6 1.3  0.11 4.9 4 NE 5-HT 13 NE 5-HT  4.3 1.3 44.8 1.7 5 NE 5-HT 14 DA 5-HT 17.2 1.9  3.0 2.2 6 DA 5-HT 17.2 2.0 7 NE 5-HT 25.8 3.5 8 NE 5-HT  8.5 3.2 9 NE 5-HT 11.6 3.6

Pathology for patients 1 through 9 is hippocampal disease; pathology for patients 10 through 14 is neocortical disease. Values for monoamines [Norepinephrine (NE), Serotonin (5-HT), Dopamine (DA)] are calibrated in nanomolar (nM) concentrations. Values for Ascorbic Acid (AA) were calibrated in micromolar (μM) concentrations. Neurochemical signatures for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patients consisted of the presence of norepinephrine and 5HT and the absence of dopamine in each neocortical specimen with the exception of patient #6, who exhibited dopamine and not norepinephrine. Neurochemical signatures for neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy patients consisted of the presence of dopamine, serotonin and ascorbic acid and the absence of norepinephrine in each neocortical specimen with the exception of patient, #14 who exhibited norepinephrine and not dopamine.

Serotonin was detected in the temporal neocortex of all 14 patients, with a mean concentration of 2.2 nM±0.32 for the mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patients and 2.58 nM±0.59 for the neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy group. Ascorbic acid was found in the temporal neocortex of one of the neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy patients at a concentration of 0.1 .mu.M, but in none of the mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patients.

The most striking finding of this study was the marked norepinephrine depletion seen in the temporal neocortex of neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy patients compared with that of the mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patients. In experimental models, norepinephrine may differentially enhance or inhibit GABAergic cells (Kawaguchi Y et al., 1998, J Neurosci 18:6963-6976). However, in numerous experimental models of epilepsy, norepinephrine depletion has been shown to enhance the frequency, intensity, and spread of seizures (Browning R A et al., 1989, J Pharmacol Exp Ther 249:229-35; Ferrendelli J A et al., 1986, Adv. Neurol. 44:393-400). A consistent depletion in neocortical norepinephrine has not been previously demonstrated in human epilepsy. One study by Goldstein et al. (Goldstein D S et al., 1988, J Neurochem 50:225229), using intraoperative electrocorticography, showed increased concentrations of norepinephrine in spiking cortex compared with nonspiking cortex. This increased concentration was hypothesized to be a compensatory, inhibitory role of norepinephrine. However, this study used whole tissue homogenates of large cortical regions and it is difficult to compare these data to the restricted neocortical samples examined in this Example. Subtypes of temporal lobe epilepsy were also not considered. In another study of 20 patients with TLE by Pintor and colleagues, no difference in norepinephrine concentrations were found between spiking and nonspiking regions (Pintor Met al., 1990, Synapse 5:152-156).

These results suggest that the Band of Baillarger is white matter.

TABLE 2 Statistical Results. 1) Results showed that the neurotransmitter DA in temporal DA neocortex of NTLE patients was significantly greater that in MTLE NTLE > MTLE patients: Chi-square -p < 0.05 for presence vs. absence ofDA; Mann- Whitney Rank Sum - p = 0.027 (p < 0.01) for concentration of DA in NTLE to be significantly greater than that of MTLE 2) 5-HT: Chi-square (not applicable); Mann-Whitney Rank Sum - 5-HT p = 0.317. Not Significant (N.S.) N.S. 3) NE concentrations in temporal neocortex were significantly NE greater in MTLE than in NTLE patients: Chi-square -p < 0.01; MTLE > NTLE Mann- Whitney Rank Sum - p = 0.065 (p < 0.01) 4) AA: Chi-square - p < 0.2; Mann-Whitney Rank Sum - p = 0.894. AA NTLE > MTLE Trend: Chi square

The most striking finding of this study was the marked norepinephrine depletion seen in the temporal neocortex of our neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy patients compared with that of the mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patients. In experimental models, norepinephrine may differentially enhance or inhibit GABAergic cells (Kawaguchi Y et al., 1998, J Neurosci 18:6963-6976). However, in numerous experimental models of epilepsy, norepinephrine depletion has been shown to enhance the frequency, intensity and spread of seizures (Browning R A et al., 1989, J Pharmacol Exp Ther 249:229-35; Ferrendelli J A et al., 1986, Adv. Neurol. 44:393-400). To our knowledge, a consistent depletion in neocortical norepinephrine has not been previously demonstrated in human epilepsy. One study by Goldstein et al. (Goldstein D S et al., 1988, J Neurochem 50:225229), using intraoperative electrocorticography, showed increased concentrations of norepinephrine in spiking cortex compared with nonspiking cortex. This increased concentration was hypothesized to be a compensatory, inhibitory role of norepinephrine. However, this study used whole tissue homogenates of large cortical regions and it is difficult to compare these data to the restricted neocortical samples in our study. Subtypes of temporal lobe epilepsy were also not considered. In another study of 20 patients with TLE by Pintor and colleagues, no difference in norepinephrine concentrations were found between spiking and nonspiking regions (Pintor M et al., 1990, Synapse 5:152-156).

Example 3 Human Epilepsy

Significant differences in the monoamine signatures from the hippocampal subparcellations in patients with MTLE and NTLE have been observed. The alveus (hippocampal white matter) contains both efferent fibers from hippocampus that form the fornix and afferent pathways connecting entorhinal cortex and the CA1 region of the hippocampus. The neurochemistry of the alveus in patients with MTLE and NTLE was studied to determine whether similar neurotransmitter alterations exist.

Microvoltammetry with Broderick probe stearic acid electrodes was used to detect norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA), ascorbic acid (AA), and serotonin (5-HT) in resected temporal lobes of 9 MTLE and 4 NTLE patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. Neurotransmitters were detected in separate signals within the same recording within seconds in alveus by experimentally derived oxidative potentials, determined in vitro in Ringers Lactate or PO₄ buffer. Ag/AgCl reference and stainless steel auxiliary micro electrodes were placed in each specimen 4-6 mm from indicator electrodes (patented) (manufactured on site). Methods are published (Broderick P A, 1989, Brain Res. 495:115-121; Broderick P A, 1988, Neurosci. Lett. 95:275-280; Broderick P A et al., 2000, Brain Res. 878:48-63; Pacia S V, 2001, Brain Res. 899(1-2):106-11). All signals were analyzed for the presence of diffusion peaks in early oxidative species (indicating white matter).

All of the NTLE patients had significant DA in the alveus while only one MTLE patient had detectable DA (p<0.01, Mann-Whitney Rank Sum Test). Eight of the nine MTLE patients had significant NE in alveus while none of the concentrations were significantly higher in NTLE specimens (p<0.01, Mann-Whitney Rank Sum Test).

The neurochemical profiles in alveus of patients with MTLE and NTLE reveal neurotransmitter alterations similar to those alterations seen in the hippocampal pyramidal cell layer of these patients, a region with direct afferent and efferent connections through the alveus.

Example 4 Distinguishing White and Gray Matter

Voltammetric signals were analyzed from electrodes in resected temporal lobes to determine whether gray and white matter structures could be reliably distinguished.

Microvoltammetry with Broderick Probe stearic acid electrodes was used to detect norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA), ascorbic acid (AA), and serotonin (5-HT) in 40 gray matter structures and 37 white matter structures in resected temporal lobes of a total of 14 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. Neurotransmitters were detected in separate signals within the same recording within seconds in 3 gray matter (temporal neocortex, hippocampal pyramidal, and dentate gyrus granular layer) and 3 white matter structures (temporal stem, subiculum, and alveus), by experimentally derived oxidative potentials, determined in vitro in Ringers Lactate or PO₄ buffer. Ag/AgCl reference and stainless steel auxiliary electrodes were placed in each specimen 4-6 mm from indicator electrodes (patented) (manufactured on site). Methods are published (Broderick P A, 1989, Brain Res. 495:115-121; Broderick P A, 1988, Neurosci. Lett. 95:275-280; Broderick P A et al., 2000, Brain Res. 878:48-63; Pacia S V, 2001, Brain Res. 899(1-2):106-11). All signals were analyzed for the presence of diffusion peaks in early oxidative species (indicating white matter).

FIG. 5 shows representative examples of distinctive signals recorded from gray matter (A) and white matter (B). Criteria for distinguishing electrochemical signals for gray versus white matter consist of distinct differences in the catecholamine (i.e. dopamine, norepinephrine) peaks, peaks that are called the “early oxidative species”. They are as follows:

(A) Gray matter signals are large in amplitude denoting high concentrations, whereas white matter signals are small in amplitude denoting low concentrations of neurotransmitters. Moreover, white matter signals are defined electrochemically as “broad diffusion waveforms”.

Criteria for denoting distinct differences in the indoleamine peaks, e.g. serotonin, peaks that are exhibited later than the catecholamines in the oxidative sweep pathway, consist of the following:

(B) Gray matter signals for serotonin are generally lower than those in white matter. White matter signals exhibit a sharp adsorptive waveform.

Of 40 temporal lobe gray matter structures sampled, 39 displayed signals consistent with gray matter and only 1 revealed signals consistent with white matter. Of 37 white matter structures sampled, 30 exhibited signals consistent with white matter. Additionally, white matter tended to have substantially lower concentrations of catecholamines and 5-HT as well as lower ratios of catecholamines to 5-HT. In some preferred embodiments of the invention, the first peak, i.e. catecholamine, for white matter is about two-fold less than the same peak for white matter. In some preferred embodiments, the second peak, i.e. serotonin, for white matter is about two-fold more than the same peak for white matter.

Gray matter has an inherent neuroanatomic difference from white matter and this difference may explain specific waveforms for gray matter versus white matter signals. In gray matter, calcium ions course into fibers through calcium channels which gate neurotransmitters. Calcium channels are absent in white matter and gating of neurotransmitters occurs through sodium channels. In situ microvoltammetry with electrodes reliably distinguishes temporal lobe gray matter from white matter, both in the neocortex and in other neuroanatomic substrates such as specific hippocampal parcellations that are comprised of white matter versus gray matter. These results have important implications for in vivo and/or intraoperative neurochemical analysis of human epilepsy. These findings should enable more precise intraoperative neuroanatomic localization.

Furthermore, these findings have important implications for distinguishing and locating tumors/neoplasms and the like, intraoperatively and otherwise especially when these tumors whether they be associated with epilepsy or not, infiltrate other tissues. To date, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is unable to detect tumors infiltrated to other tissues.

Example 5 Distinguishing White and Gray Matter

This example is directed to elucidating significant differences in the levels of catecholamine neurotransmitters, dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (NE) and indolamine neurotransmitter, serotonin (5-HT) in the alveus and temporal stem of 14 intractable epileptic patients, including 9 Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (MTLE) and 5 Neocortical (lateral) Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (NTLE) patients who underwent surgery. DA, NE, and 5-HT were detected separately according to their experimentally established oxidative potentials. This detection was achieved with in vivo electrochemistry, which depended on a semi-differential microvoltammetry-based system of electrodes, consisting of a miniature carbon sensor (BRODERICK PROBE®), Ag/AgCl reference electrode, and auxiliary micro electrode. Methods are published by Broderick (Broderick P A, 1989, Brain Res. 495:115-121; Broderick P A, 1988, Neurosci. Lett. 95:275-280). Relative to NTLE specimens, MTLE specimens exhibited a reduced level of DA and higher level of NE in alveus and temporal stem. Although, 5-HT was common to all specimens, NTLE specimens showed a significantly higher level in the alveus. The data indicate that MTLE and NTLE are characterized by distinct neuronal microenvironment and that epilepsy-associated gliosis could affect extraneuronal monoamine.

Classically, glial cells have been considered to comprise a passive framework that supports, nourishes, and insulates neurons. They have not been thought of as active factors in the onset and progression of brain disease such as epilepsy. Epilepsy is frequently defined as a neuronal disease marked by spontaneous recurring seizures accompanied by significant biochemical imbalances. Recent studies show that glial cells—the major component of alveus and temporal stem—are actively involved in regulating extraneuronal ions (Bordey A et al., 1998, Epilepsy Res. 32:286-303; Walz W, 1989, Prog. Neurobiol. 33: 309-333) neurotransmitters (Kimelberg H K et al., 1993, Astrocytes, Pharmacology and Function, pp. 193-228) that are involved in the propagation of epilepsy. Electron microscopic sections also show that astrocytes encapsulate neuronal cell bodies and reach closely into the vicinity of synapses. Such anatomical intimacy gives astrocytes access to regulate the neuronal microenvironment.

Numerous studies clearly indicate the relevance of monoamines and their regulation by glial cells towards the propagation of epilepsy. The instant example illustrates how electrodes may be used to delineate the levels of catecholamines and serotonin in the hippocampal and neocortical white layers of epileptic tissue. Specifically, the system of electrodes utilized herein made it possible to delineate the levels of DA, NE, and 5-HT in the alveus and temporal stem. Consequently, it was possible to assess the impact of epileptic seizure and its consequences on the regulation of extraneuronal catecholamines and serotonin in MTLE and NTLE tissues by comparing neurotransmitter levels before and during a seizure.

Hippocampal and temporal cortex resected from fourteen intractable epilepsy patients was immersed in Ringer's Lactate Buffer Solution. A miniature carbon sensor (BRODERICK PROBE®) was inserted dorsoventrally (1 mm or 2 mm) into alveus and temporal stem, while a Ag/AgCl reference and auxiliary electrodes were placed in contact with the surface of the specimen. This system of electrodes has been proven capable of detecting catecholamine DA, NE and indolamine 5-HT neurotransmitters and their metabolites. Methods are published (Broderick P A, 1989, Brain Res. 495:115-121; Broderick P A, 1988, Neurosci. Lett. 95:275-280). Potentials were applied and scanned at a rate of 10 mV/sec from −0.2V to +0.9V across the reference and indicator electrodes via a CV-37 Electrochemical Detector (BAS, West Lafayette, Ind.). Each of the 4 monoamines was detected separately at its characteristic oxidative potential, which was experimentally determined (Broderick P A, 1989, Brain Res. 495:115-121; Broderick P A, 1988, Neurosci. Lett. 95:275-280). The resulting electrochemical signals were recorded on a Fisher Recordall® Series 5000 (Houston instruments, Houston, Tex.). The data were statistically analyzed using Chi-square Test, and Mann Whitney Rank Sum Test.

In the alveus, there was a significant decrease in the concentrations of DA in MTLE specimens relative to NTLE specimens (p=0.011; Mann-Whitney Rank Sum Test), and a significant presence of NE in NTLE specimens relative to MTLE (p<0.01; Chi-square). There was a significant depletion in the concentration of NE in NTLE alveus specimens relative to MTLE (p=0.031; Mann-Whitney Rank Sum Test), and a significant occurrence of NE in MTLE relative to MTLE specimens (p<0.001; Chi-square). Although the concentrations of 5-HT are significantly higher in NTLE alveus specimens (p=0.045; Mann-Whitney Rank Sum Test). The actual recording for Patient #7 is shown in FIG. 4A. Patient #7 was diagnosed as having mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.

There was depletion of NE in the NTLE temporal stem specimens relative to MTLE temporal stem specimen [p=0.082]. Chi-square test showed a significant presence of NE in MTLE relative to NTLE specimens (p<0.05). There was no statistical difference in the concentration and occurrence of 5-HT in temporal stem (white matter) MTLE and NTLE specimens. The actual recording for Patient #7 is shown in FIG. 4B.

The results indicate a notable dysfunction in the extraneuronal regulation of (a) DA, NE, and 5-HT in the alveus of MTLE and NTLE patients, and (b) DA and NE in temporal stem of NTLE versus MTLE. These extraneuronal trends extend previous findings that “subtypes of epilepsy are associated with distinct neuronal biochemistry in human neocortex and hippocampus of MTLE and NTLE patients” (Broderick P A et al., 2000, Brain Res. 878:48-63). These differences are extended to white matter hippocampal subparcellations such as alveus and neocortical white matter such as temporal stem.

The significant depletion of DA in the alveus of MTLE specimens may be interpreted as (i) the outcome of increased compensatory DA metabolism in the neuronal microenvironment either by dopamine-.beta.-hydroxylase to NE; or possibly by monoamine oxidase to DOPAC; or still by tryosinase, prostaglandin H synthase and/or xanthine oxidase to the toxic DA quinone; (ii) indication of dopaminergic neuronal death, an evidence of the cytotoxic effect of DA quinone. This explanation conforms with the model of cytotoxic and genotoxic potential of DA via DA quinone, as advanced by (Stokes A H et al., 1999, J. Neurosci. Res. 55:659-665).

Electrodes with microvoltammetry as described in the present invention may be utilized to study movement disorders whether they originate in the brain or the spinal cord. This is because this is the first technology that can detect neurotransmitters at the same time that movement occurs. Thus, for spinal cord injury, e.g., Broderick probes are implanted or inserted into neurons and/or interneurons of muscle and ganglia either in situ or in vivo, dysfunction between neurotransmitter and movement is directly detected for appropriate therapeutic interventions. The following examples show how normal behavior, which is rhythmic, needs to be rhythmic with the neurotransmitter, serotonin for normal functioning of brain and spinal cord. This example has been described previously in this application. When injury occurs, irregular synchrony between neurotransmitter and movement is seen with this technology. This is shown by using cocaine also in FIGS. 7-11.

Example 6 Serotonin within Motor Circuits Modulates Rhythmic, Episodic Movement During Normal Behavior

In FIG. 7, release of 5-HT within DStr, an A₉ DA basal nucleus and nerve terminal field is plotted with ambulations (left panel) and fine movements (right panel). Ambulations are locomotion-movement in the horizontal plane, around the inside of the behavioral chamber; also called open-field behavior or locomotor activity. These may be monitored by computerized infrared photocell beams, located around the outside of the behavioral chamber. Fine movements are called stereotypic movements and consist of repetitious movements and/or rhythmic movements, e.g. rearing, chewing, sniffing. and grooming.

These studies were performed in real time during open-field locomotor (exploratory) and stereotypic behaviors from time 0 min to time 60 min as movement occurred. Serotonin release in this motor nucleus is rhythmic with movement even as movement waxed and waned. This was an intriguing and exciting result since locomotion is known to be not only rhythmic but, very importantly, it is known to be episodic, unlike most other rhythmic and repetitive behaviors.

In FIG. 8, release of 5-HT within NAcc core, an A₁₀ DA basal nucleus and nerve terminal field is plotted with ambulations (left panel) and fine movements (right panel). NAcc core is a motor nucleus, as is DStr. These studies, also performed in real time, show that 5-HT was released in a motor nucleus, again, rhythmically and episodically during the open-field paradigm study of locomotor (exploratory) and stereotypic behaviors as movement occurred, and again, even as movement's episodic nature was clear. Both FIGS. 7 and 8 show that 5-HT release was rhythmic with both movement and cessation of movement over the habituation period that was initiated and continued from time 60 min to time 120 min. Although the frequency of ambulations and fine movements was not significantly different between studies shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the extent of 5-HT released in A₉ was dramatically less than that released in A₁₀ basal nucleus.

The data show a correlation between the 5-HT released within basal nuclei and the motor performance of the animal in the open-field paradigm. Moreover, the rhythm between 5-HT released within A₉ basal nucleus and motor behavior is remarkably similar to that rhythm seen between 5-HT released within A₁₀ basal nucleus and motor behavior. Similar results were expected from these A₉ and A₁₀ core because the Broderick probe indicator electrode was implanted in NAcc core, the motor-related area of NAcc.

Thus, 5-HT within terminal basal nuclei affects rhythmic movement during the normal/natural operation of repetitive motor behaviors. Serotonin release within the A₉ terminal field, DStr, and the A₁₀ terminal field, v1NAcc, increased as each open field behavior increased. The 5-HT is released within basal nuclei in synchrony with the changes in motor behavior controlled by the same nuclei.

Lucki, in a 1998 review, states, “diminished 5-HT causes increased exploratory or locomotor activity” (Lucki I, 1998, Biol. Psychiat. 44:151-162). But, there are considerable data that show that 5-HT increases as exploratory or locomotor movement increases. See e.g., Bouhuys A L et al., 1977, Physiol. Behav. 19:535-541; Kohler C et al., 1978, Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 8:223-233; Lorens S A et al., 1976, Brain Res. 108:97-113; Schlosberg A J et al., 1979, J. Pharmacol. Exp. Therap. 211:296-304; Srebro B et al., 1975, Brain Res. 89:303-325; Hillegaart V et al., 1989, Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 32:797-800; Yeghiayan S K et al., 1997, Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 56:251-259. The technology provided here enables scientists to move away from gross behavioral studies which simply average events over long periods of time and space.

In FIG. 9, 5-HT release within A₁₀ somatodendrites is plotted with ambulations (left panel) and fine movements (right panel). These data show that 5-HT was released in a motor brain stem nucleus rhythmically and episodically during the usual, normal/natural operation of movement behaviors. Habituation brought about a decrease in 5-HT release as well as a decrease in locomotor and stereotypic behaviors. Serotonin release in VTA was less than that seen in the basal nuclei.

Within DA somatodendrites, release of 5-HT dramatically increased in a synchronous and rhythmic manner with ambulations and fine movement behaviors of grooming and sniffing. Yet, the temporal relationship between 5-HT released within A₁₀ somatodendrites, VTA, with movement is different from that 5-HT released in A₁₀ terminals and in As terminals, with movement. Still highly rhythmic, 5-HT release within A₁₀ somatodendrites affects movement in a juxtaposed pattern that was not seen in basal nuclei DA nerve terminals, A₉ DStr or within A₁₀ NAcc core. This was also an intriguing and exciting result since A₁₀ somatodendrites are not basal nuclei; A₁₀ cell bodies is a brain stem nucleus, comprised of DA somatodendritic neurons projecting to A₁₀ basal nuclei.

Increased somatodendritic 5-HT cell firing within 5-HT somatodendrites which occurs before movement behavior occurs (Jacobs B L et al., 1991, Pharmacol. Rev. 43:563-578) and influences DA interactions within terminal basal nuclei (Broderick P A et al., 1997, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 21(3):227-260) may be an important mechanism managing the communication between 5-HT released within DA somatodendrites during concurrent open-field ambulatory and fine movement behavior. Also, the dendritic release of DA somatodendritic autoreceptors on DA cells (Grace A et al., 1985, Neurotransmitter Actions in the Vertebrate Nervous System, Chapter 9) with calcium conductance properties, typical of cells exhibiting dendritic release of neurotransmitter (Llinas R et al., 1984, Brain Res. 294:127-132), may be an important component of DA neuronal responsiveness. The short time lag could be due to suppressed DA somatodendritic excitability influenced by dorsal raphe (DR) stimulation (Trent F et al., 1991, Exp. Brain Res. 84:620-630).

From FIGS. 7 through 9, a synopsis of important messages about normal/natural 5-HT release within two basal nuclei, a brain stem nucleus and movement behaviors follows.

5-HT released within A₉ and A₁₀ core basal nuclei and A₁₀ somatodendrites, increased with locomotor behavior and with the fine movement stereotypic behaviors of grooming and sniffing; 5-HT decreased during habituation when movement had essentially ceased.

5-HT release within A₉ and A₁₀ (core) basal nuclei exhibits rhythmicity in synchrony with locomotion and stereotypic behavior; dramatically similar rhythmic patterns occurred within both basal nuclei.

5-HT released within A₁₀ somatodendrites, DA cell bodies, VTA, also showed remarkable rhythmicity with movement and stereotypic behavior, but the rhythmic control by 5-HT in A₁₀ somatodendrites assumes a different pattern that that pattern observed when basal nuclei were studied. VTA is brain stem nucleus and not a basal nucleus.

Data demonstrate normal/natural rhythmic episodic movement behaviors, which previous technologies did not enable.

5-HT release within A₁₀ (core) DA nerve terminals during movement and stereotypic behaviors was greater than within A₉ DA nerve terminals. 5-HT release within A₉ DA nerve terminals was greater than within A₁₀ somatodendrites during movement behaviors.

The data suggest that 5-HT may control episodic and rhythmic movement behaviors in DA basal nuclei and in the brain stem nucleus, A₁₀ somatodendrites. This control or modulation is different in basal nuclei compared with the brain stem nucleus, A₁₀ somatodendrites.

Superior temporal resolution is a crucial component of technologies that claim to study neurotransmitters and behavior within the same animal and in real time.

Example 7 Cocaine Disrupts Normal Rhythmic, Episodic Modulation of Movement Via 5-HT in Motor Circuits

Methods used in this example have been described (Broderick P A, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,710; Broderick P A, 1996, EP 90914306.7; Broderick P A, 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,903; Broderick P A, 1989, Brain Res. 495:115-121; Broderick P A, 1989, Brain Res. 495:115-121; Broderick P A, 1988, Neurosci. Lett. 95:275-280; Broderick P A, 1990, Electroanalysis 2:241-245; Broderick P A, 1993, Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 46:973-984; Broderick P A, 2002, Handbook of Neurotoxicology, Vol. 2, Chapter 13; Broderick P A et al., 2000, Brain Res. 878:48-63). The dosage of cocaine used was 10 mg/kg ip.

The temporal synchrony between 5-HT release in basal nucleus A₁₀ terminals, v1NAcc, and movement behaviors is disrupted after cocaine administration. FIG. 10 shows the 5-HT response to cocaine, plotted with resulting ambulations (left panel) and fine movement (right panel) during the psychomotor effects of cocaine, as movement occurred (same animal control in real time). Comparing this figure with FIG. 8 reveals that normal communication between basal 5-HT release in NAcc and movement behaviors is disrupted by cocaine. Although 5-HT levels still increase after cocaine, rhythmic control of movement by 5-HT is no longer observable in either ambulatory (locomotor) or fine movement (stereotypic) behaviors. Moreover, the magnitude of the 5-HT increase after cocaine is significantly less than 5-HT released and observed during natural movement without cocaine. Cocaine-induced behaviors after habituation are still increased, but the behaviors seem to occur in a frequency similar to those frequencies usually observed in smaller, younger, animals

The temporal synchrony between 5-HT release in A₁₀ somatodendrites and movement behaviors is also disrupted after cocaine administration. Although VTA is not a basal nucleus, these DA cell bodies are a component of the mesocorticolimbic motor circuit. FIG. 11 shows the 5-HT response to cocaine, plotted with resulting ambulations (left panel) and fine movement (right panel) behaviors during the psychomotor effects of cocaine, as movement occurred (same animal control in real time). This figure shows that the previous normal/natural communication (shown in FIG. 9) between basal 5-HT release in A₁₀ somatodendrites and movement behaviors has been disrupted. The data show that enhanced 5-HT release in VTA after cocaine is no longer synchronous with movement behaviors. Thus, ambulations (locomotion) and fine movement behaviors of grooming and sniffing are not related temporally to 5-HT release at A₁₀ somatodendrites after cocaine. Serotonin release increased when compared with habituation behavior, but the magnitude of the increase was smaller than observed during normal movement without cocaine. Despite the rise in 5-HT levels, 5-HT does not direct normal, rhythmic episodic movements after cocaine administration.

The general trend of changes in 5-HT and movement behaviors observed here confirm previously reported results (Yeghiayan S K et al., 1997, Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 56:251-259). However, previous studies have not been able to detect these subtle changes nor have these previous studies been able to detect normallnatural episodic, rhythmic nature of locomotor (exploratory) movement or stereotypy, either in neurochemistry or behavior.

5-HT control or modulation of movement behaviors in A₁₀ basal nucleus and in A₁₀ somatodendrites during normal/natural movement behaviors is subsequently disrupted by cocaine. Even in the first thirty minutes after cocaine, the episodic rhythmic nature of locomotor (exploratory) movement behavior and stereotypic behavior has been disrupted.

5-HT release in basal nuclei and VTA DA somatodendrites after cocaine is greater than those during habituation but less than those seen during normal/natural movement behaviors.

Neuroadaptation cannot be determined by simply studying the general direction of the response of 5-HT to cocaine. Using Broderick probe microvoltammetry, neuroadaptative responses by 5-HT in motor circuits have been seen after a single injection of cocaine. The observed neuroadaptative response by 5-HT in motor circuits is independent of temperature changes since temperature was kept constant at 37.5±0.5° C. Neuroadaptation may be a predisposition to cocaine neurotoxicity.

In vivo microvoltanunetric studies enable the detection of subtle changes necessary to see alterations in normal/natural neurochemistry and behavior that existed before the administration of cocaine. The studies show that neuronal damage to basal nuclei and brain stem nuclei may have occurred after the administration of cocaine.

Superior temporal resolution is a crucial component of technologies that claim to study neurotransmitters and behavior within the same animal and in real time.

Example 8 CPGs Thin Basal Nuclei may Induce Rhythmic Movement by 5-HT

The following provides a rationale for studies using CPGs to explain how brain and spinal cord injuries can come about. The following also describes the necessity for neurotransmitters and movement, behavior or otherwise to be synchronous. The invention further provides methods for diagnosing injury where the patterns are asynchronous.

To date, there have been no reports of 5-HT modulation that is intrinsic to CPG's that operate rhythmic locomotion or stereotypy in basal nuclei. Yet, basal nuclei are known to be involved in the development of automaticity and to play a primary role in both movement preparation and execution, possibly by optimizing muscular activity patterns once a motor decision has been made (Brooks D J, 1996, Basal Ganglia function during normal and Parkinsonian movement, PET activation studies. In Advances in Neurology (Battistin, L. Scarlato, G., Caraceni, T. and Ruggieri, S. Eds.), Lippincott-Raven, Phil., Pa. pp. 433-441).

Studies of neurotransmitters in basal nuclei and brain stem nuclei have typically focused on DA. For example, it is known that the basic rhythm for locomotion is generated centrally in spinal networks. The transition from stance to swing is regulated by afferent signals from leg flexor and extensor muscles. These afferent signals are ultimately influenced in intensity and pattern by descending signals from CNS neuronal circuitry (Pearson K et al., 2000, Principles of Neural Science, 4th edition, pp. 738-755). Again, the catecholamines have taken preference as targets for study. Landmark studies, performed about thirty years ago, showed that injection of the catecholaminergic drugs, L-DOPA and nialamide, into spinal cord generated spontaneous locomotor activity (Jankowska E et al., 1967, Acta Physiol. Scand. 70:369-388; Jankowska E et al., 1967, Acta Physiol. Scand. 70:389-402).

Moreover, electrophysiological studies of DA in the basal nucleus, DStr, have shown that DA neurons operate in bursts of action potentials that increase bursting and change bursting patterns when 96% DA neurons are damaged (Hollermann J R et al., 1990, Brain Res. 533:203-212). Other electrophysiological studies have shown that the excitotoxin, kainic acid, when injected into the basal nucleus, DStr, changed the pattern of the normal neuronal rhythm in the basal stem nucleus, substantia nigra (SN). Since SN usually exhibits a slow rhythmic firing of action potentials, damage to the neurons has been reported to cause a disorganized rhythm. This SN model has been used as an animal model to study the movement disorder, Huntington's Disease (Doudet D et al., 1984, Brain Res. 302:45-55). Therefore, empirical precedents provide evidence for a clear association between DA, neuronal damage, and disorganized rhythms, at least from electrophysiological studies.

The instant invention provides a novel approach of examining the involvement of 5-HT modulation in the functioning of CPGs that operate rhythmic locomotion or stereotypy in basal nuclei. The technology presented here, provides a way to concurrently study 5-HT release in basal nuclei, movement circuits, and behavior, in an animal or human. The analysis may further include observing changes in one or more of these three factors upon exposure to some stimulus.

The empirical evidence presented in the Examples suggests that (a) 5-HT in basal nuclei may be responsible, at least in part, for the normal/natural episodic, rhythmicity known to exist with locomotor and stereotypic movements and (b) a subtle neuroadaptation is caused by cocaine between 5-HT and cocaine-induced movements known as “psychotic behavior” by a single or multiple CPG network. Interestingly, neuroadaptation, induced by cocaine is highly time-dependent. This is consistent with the observation that neuromodulatory inputs can reconfigure CPG networks to produce specific motor output patterns (Kiehn O et al., 1996, J. Neurophysiol. 75:1472-1482).

Thus, cocaine may act through a time-dependent, 5-HT CPG neuronal network to cause neuroadaptation to occur which may lead to cocaine neurotoxicity. This cocaine-5-HT driven neuroadaptation may reflect neuronal damage and may be a marker for cocaine neurotoxicity.

Locomotor (exploratory) activity and stereotypic behaviors are episodic and rhythmic although they are commonly not described as such. FIGS. 7 through 9 depict the episodic, rhythmicity seen in normal/natural movement behaviors. Neuromodulation by the biogenic amine, 5-HT, within basal nuclei and A₁₀ brain stem nucleus is depicted as these movements occur and as these movements are presumably controlled, directed, modulated or regulated by 5-HT.

Hyperactive locomotion and stereotypic behaviors are often thought of and referred to as psychomotor stimulant behaviors. Also, repetitive behaviors induced by cocaine have been perceived as “meaningless” or goalless behaviors. It has been said that the term “stereotypy” applies to a behavioral act that is repeated again and again, but, unlike a motivational act, it makes no sense because it does not achieve an adaptive outcome (Teitelbaum P, Pellis S M, and De Vietti T L, 1990, Disintegration into sterotypy induced by drugs of brain damage: a microdescriptive behavioral analysis. In: Neurobiology of Sterotyped Behavior (Cooper S J and Douish C T Eds.), Oxford Univ. Press, NY. pp. 169-199.). However, repetitive behaviors produced by cocaine may not be meaningless or non-adaptive. Rather, neuroadaptation to cocaine, possibly leading to habit-forming behavior, may be the unfortunate maladaptive outcome. FIGS. 10 and 11 show that cocaine disrupted the normal episodic rhythm of natural movement; cocaine caused normal rhythmic movement to be disorganized.

It is interesting that the concept of “rhythm” in normal open-field movement is virtually ignored or forgotten when one studies the literature on the mechanism of action of cocaine. Conceptually, when neuroscientists speak of cocaine-induced psychomotor stimulant behavior, it seems as if movement does not occur until cocaine is administered or injected. The Examples herein illustrate that there are actually greater enhancements in 5-HT during movement before cocaine administration than in the same animal after cocaine administration. In addition, cocaine-induced movement was not significantly increased over movement without cocaine.

Example 9 Schizophrenia

The first evidence that schizophrenia may be associated with 5-HTergic abnormalities was the observation that there was a structural similarity between 5-HT and the hallucinogenic drug, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) (Gaddum J H, 1954, Ciba Foundation Symposium on Hypertension, pp. 75-77; Wooley D W et al., 1954, PNAS 40: 228-231). Solomon Snyder (Snyder S H, 1972, Arch. Gen. Psychiat. 45:789-796) reported, however, that the psychosis induced by LSD in humans exhibited a vastly different symptomatology that than of schizophrenic-induced psychosis. A revival of interest in the relationship between 5-HT and schizophrenia occurred about fifteen years ago, when the atypical neuroleptic was found to have a high affinity for 5-HT₂ receptors (Altar C A et al., 1986, Brain Res. Bull. 16:517-525). Also, clozapine was found to be particularly effective in treating patients intractable to other neuroleptics and clozapine was found to produce less extrapyramidal side effects (EPS) (movement disorders) than did other previous neuroleptics (Kane J et al., 1988, Arch. Gen. Psychiat. 45:789-796; Tamminga C A et al., 1987, Psychopharmacology: the Third Generation of Progress, pp. 1129-1140).

A mediation for 5-HT in either the disease of schizophrenia itself or in the movement disorders known to be caused by the classical neuroleptics remains under study; two excellent reviews are published (Iqbal N et al., 1995, Eur. Neuropsychopharmacol. 5(Suppl.):11-23; Abi D A et al., 1977, J. Neuropsychiat. Clin. Neurosci. 9:1-17). Nonetheless, a current hypothesis derived from human and animal studies regarding this atypical neuroleptic is that clozapine acts via its 5-HT₂ antagonistic effect to alleviate movement disorders in psychosis. Furthermore, in treating the schizophrenic psychotic abnormality via its DAD₂/5-HT₂ antagonistic receptor action, the drug produces less EPS than its classical counterparts. (Meltzer H Y, 1989, Psychopharmacology 99(Suppl.):18-27; Broderick P A et al., 1998, J. Neural. Transm. 105:749-767; Hope O., Lineen, E., Okonji, C., Green, S., Saleem, A., Aulakh, C. S. and Broderick, P. A., 1995, Cocaine has remarkable nucleus accumbens effects on line, with behavior in the serotonin-deficient Fawn Hooded rat. NIH/NIGMS Symposium, Washington, D.C.; Wadenburg M L, 1996, Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 20:325-329; Kapur S et al., 1996, Am. J. Psychiat. 153(4):466-476; Martin P, 1998, 5-HT₂ Receptor Antagonism and Antipsychotic Drugs; A Behavioral and Neurochemical Study in a Rodent Hypoglutamatergia Model. PhD. Thesis, Goteborg Univ., Sweden, pp. 1-64) and possibly by its DAD₄ action (Van Tol HHM et al., 1991, Nature 350:610-614). Perhaps the present data can lend an explanatory note to a fairly recent study in which the classical DAD₂ receptor antagonist, haloperidol, was shown to induce the movement dysfunction, catalepsy, by 5-HTergic mediation (Neal-Beliveau B S et al., 1993, J. Pharmacol. Exp. Therap. 265:207-217).

Example 10 Conclusion

Serotonin release from DA A₉ and A₁₀ basal nuclei and A₁₀ brain stem nuclei may be regulated by a 5-HT-regulated CPG, presumably originating from raphe somatodendrites based on empirical studies using in vivo microvoltammetry with Broderick probe electrodes. Animals exhibited repetitive, episodic and rhythmic normal/natural movements, influenced by 5-HT within DA A₉ and A₁₀ neural circuits without any drug treatment. Furthermore, cocaine disrupted such normal/natural episodic rhythmic movement by altering release of 5-HT, precisely within the DA basal nuclei that are responsible for controlling voluntary movement. A further disruption of normal, episodic rhythmic movement by 5-HT after cocaine occurred in the brain stem nucleus, VTA, the cell bodies for the basal nucleus, NAcc. Thus, 5-HT neuroadaptation by cocaine may be a predisposition or marker for cocaine induced neuronal damage or neurotoxicity. Implications for the study of other movement disorders, like spinal cord injury, through these empirical data, are noteworthy.

Example 11

In an empirical protocol of EEG and functional mapping, all subjects evaluated to have medically intractable partial seizures will have scalp EEG electrodes or BRODERICK PROBE® sensors applied according to the 10-20 system with the addition of inferior temporal and/or sphenoidal electrodes.

Digital EEGs will be recorded and analyzed with a 64 channel Telefactor Beehive and Beekeeper system (Telefactor Corporation, PA) with a 200 Hz sampling rate and stored on VHS tape.

Intracranial EEGs will be simultaneously recorded, under anesthesia, with a modified 32 channel, 400 Hz sampling rate Telefactor unit in order to record gamma frequency activity.

Subjects having placement of subdural strip, grid or depth electrodes under anesthesia will have scalp and sphenoidal electrodes simultaneously placed.

Scalp and intracranial EEG recordings will be analyzed using a Telefactor Beekeeper System in both bipolar and referential montages.

Simultaneous intracranial, sphenoidal and scalp EEGs will be reviewed to study the ictal, scalp EEG manifestations of seizure onsets from various neocortical regions. The specificity of inferior temporal and sphenoidal electrodes for predicting mesial temporal versus temporal neocortical or orbitofrontal seizure onsets will also be examined.

Language, motor and sensory functions will be mapped when clinically indicated with electrical stimulation using a Grass Instrument S-12 stimulator (Astromed (Grass-Telefactor); West Warwick, R.I.).

Intracranial electrodes and scalp electrode locations will be referenced to the MRI and thereby to each other.

Intraoperative Localization utilizes the same subjects. In the operating room, data gathered during the pre-surgical evaluation will be available to the surgeon.

The anesthesiologist will appropriately anesthetize the patient (general inhalational anesthetic or perhaps the intravenous sedative, propofol) and after the appropriate length of time to allow the pharmacokinetic induction of the anesthetic, the surgeon will use the Polhemus localization device and the same fiducials used to co-register the electrophysiological and anatomic data.

The skull of the patient located behind the ear, encases the neocortex. The skull will be removed by the surgeon and placed in a −80 degree Centigrade freezer.

Now, the surgeon may place the electromagnetic sensor of the localization device at any point on the brain and automatically display the corresponding MRI image on the desk-top computer with or without the superimposed pre-surgical findings.

Although any region of the brain may be imaged and/or recorded, the neocortex will specifically examined. The neocortex is divided into six layers. In this study, the gray matter in the outer layers of the neocortex is the basis of this example. White matter will be avoided with the use of the BRODERICK PROBE® sensors which can differentiate, within seconds, between gray and white matter according to differential waveforms produced in gray versus white matter.

With the neocortex now clearly visible, the instant inventive BRODERICK PROBE® sensor will be carefully inserted approximately 5 or 6 mm into the outer layers, preferably layer number one.

Specifically, the inventive sensor comprises graphite, nujol oil (containing tocopherol, vitamin E), and the 12 carbon chain, unsaturated surfactant fatty acid, lauric acid, both with and without pretreatment of the lipid surfactant, phosphotidylethanolamine.

A (micro)reference electrode will be placed approximately 6-7 mm from the instant inventive sensor and a stainless steel auxiliary will be placed in an adjacent part of the cortex, about 6-7 mm from the indicator sensor, but simply only about 2 mm deep. The positioning of the three electrode assembly will be triangular (see, FIG. 12).

Neuromolecular images, based on electrochemistry of electron-transfer will take place every 3 minutes for a period of 20 to 30 minutes. Each image will take about 40-60 seconds. The scan rate will be 10 millivolts per second.

A semiderivative circuit, mathematically derived from the linear sweep circuit (Autolab, Brinkmann, Long Island) will be used to apply voltages in millivolts to activate the instant inventive indicator sensor.

Charging current will be eliminated in the first 20 seconds in negative potentials.

The silver/silver chloride (micro)reference will provide the relative zero point to estimate changes in current produced by the indicator sensor of the instant invention.

Stainless steel auxiliary electrode will provide an electrical ground.

Neuromolecular images, electrochemical signals will be selectively detected at specific millivoltage potentials, dependent on specific oxidation properties of biomolecules.

Images will be automated, remotely recorded and integrated statistically with the Autolab system (Brinkmann; Long Island, N.Y.).

Subtypes of epilepsy and tumors will be defined on the basis of the neurochemical data combined with the electrophysiological data.

The cortical resection will then be tailored with the benefit of continuous visualization of the underlying anatomy.

The cortical resection will then be tailored as well, with the benefit of the instant inventive steps of the sensors, i.e., epileptogenic zones will be more clearly delineated with neurochemical data combined with visual inspection by the surgeon.

Surgical procedures will continue to completion and the patient will be returned to the epilepsy unit wherein the patient will recover from anesthesia.

Therefore, the BRODERICK PROBE® sensors will assist image-guided neurosurgery and perform functionally in a novel and unique way in the operating room. These sensors are less cumbersome and less expensive than is MRI. Nonetheless, it is important to note that Neuromolecular Imaging) (NMI) with said sensors, is similar in accurate functionality to MRI in that NMI uses electron transfer and MRI uses proton transfer. (Broderick, P. A., Pacia, S. V., “Imaging white matter signals in epilepsy patients: A unique sensor technology”. In: Broderick, P. A., Rahni, D. N. and Kolodny, E. H. (Eds.) Bioimaging in Neurodegeneration. Humana Press Inc. Totowa, N.J. (2005)).

The above description of various embodiments has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting to the precise forms disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide illustrations and its practical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the system as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly, legally and equitably entitled. 

1. A sensor comprising: a) a construction; and b) an indicator.
 2. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the sensor is partially or fully encased in an encasement, and the encasement is a hollow three-dimensional surface.
 3. The sensor of claim 2, wherein the hollow three-dimensional surface has an end face in any geometric shape.
 4. The sensor of claim 3, wherein the geometric shape comprises: a circle, a triangle, a quadrilateral, a rhombus, a parallelogram, a rectangle, or a polygon.
 5. The sensor of claim 2, wherein the encasement comprises conducting material, semi-conducting material, non-reactive material, or non-reactive polymers, or combinations thereof.
 6. The sensor of claim 5, wherein the encasement comprises: metals, polymers, or blends thereof, polytetrafluoroethylene, fluorinated ethylene-propylene, perfluoroalkoxy polymer resin, polymethylmethacrylate, polyethylethacrylate, steel, stainless steel, silicon, germanium, silver, platinum, gold, or combinations thereof.
 7. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the construction comprises: a conducting material, semi-conducting material, conducting metal, or a semi-conducting metal, or combinations thereof.
 8. The sensor of claim 7, wherein the construction comprises: steel, stainless steel, silicon, germanium, silver, platinum, or gold, or combinations thereof.
 9. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the indicator comprises: a) at least one form of carbon, or combinations thereof; and b) at least one lipid or an entity having a lipid, or combinations thereof.
 10. The sensor of claim 9, wherein the carbon comprises: graphite, fullerenes, cylindrical fullerenes, buckminsterfullerenes, buckyballs, nanotubes, probingtubes, cold form carbon steel, white carbons, dioxosilane, or diamonds, or combinations thereof.
 11. The sensor of claim 9, wherein the lipid comprises: lipids, fats, oils, animal fats or oils, plant fats or oils, mineral oils, glycerol containing lipids, membrane lipids, soaps or detergents, waxes, cells, cell components, stem cells, electroplaques, lipoproteins; or combinations thereof.
 12. The sensor of claim 11, wherein the lipid comprises: lipids, entities having lipids, fats, oils, animal fats or oils, plant fats or oils, mineral oils, nujol oil, glycerol containing lipids, membrane lipids, soaps or detergents, waxes, cells, cell components, stem cells, electroplaques, lipoproteins, fatty acids, glycerides, monoglycerides, diglycerides, triglycerides, artificial or synthesized fats or oils, heifer fats, ox-depot fats, Valeria indica fats, tallow, red tallow, Malabar tallow, vegetable tallow, cocoa butter, soybean oil, safflower oil, sesame oil, peanut oil, coconut oil, linoleic acid, linoleic acid in vegetable oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, or poppyseed oil, lauric acid, lauric acid in coconut oil, cholesterol, phosphotidylcholine, phosphotidylethanolamine, sphingomyelin, lecithin, lysolecithin, steroids, isoprenoids, eicosenoids, sodium alkyl benzene sulfonate, sodium lauryl sulfate, jejoba wax comprised of gadoleic acid, N-stearoylcerebroside, N-stearoylsphingosine, cardiolipin, or combinations thereof.
 13. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the indicator is pre-treated, inserted, or coated with at least one biomolecule, or combinations thereof.
 14. The sensor of claim 13, wherein the biomolecule comprises: a pharmaceutical compound, neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, nucleic acids, hormones, vitamins, surfactants, soaps, detergents, stabilizing proteins, amyloid proteins, or combinations thereof.
 15. The sensor of claim 14, wherein the biomolecule comprises: pharmaceutical compounds, pharmaceutical compounds specific for neurodegenerative or neuropsychiatric diseases, disorders, and conditions, neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, hormones, surfactants, soaps, detergents, pramipexole, topiramate, clozapine, dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, acetylcholine, adenosine, estrogen, vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin E, brain lipids, phosphotidylethanolamine, tallow, sodium lauryl sulfate, N-acetyl-aspartate, choline, lactate, uric acid, stabilizing proteins, amyloid proteins, ascorbic acid, γ-aminobutyric acid, glutamate, neurotensin, somatostatin, dynorphin, homovanillic acid, nucleic acids, tryptophan, tyrosine, nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, or combinations thereof.
 16. A method for microvoltammetric imaging of changes in biomolecule concentrations in response to diagnostic challenge or therapeutic treatment comprising: exposing a neural cell, body, blood, or urine to a diagnostic challenge or therapeutic treatment; contacting said cell, body, blood, or urine with a sensor of claim 1; applying a potential to the sensor; and monitoring a temporally resolved microvoltammogram.
 17. A diagnostic method for monitoring neural functions in a mammal comprising: contacting neural cell, body, blood, or urine of said mammal with a sensor of claim 1; applying a potential to said sensor; and generating a temporally resolved microvoltammogram, wherein the microvoltammogram indicates the status of neural function in the mammal.
 18. A method of diagnosing and/or monitoring a neurological disease, disorder, or condition, comprising: generating a temporally resolved microvoltammogram of a subject; determining from said microvoltammogram the presence and concentration of at least one biomolecule; and comparing said biomolecule concentration(s) to specific threshold values of each biomolecule or biomolecules to determine the presence of statistically significant concentration differences, wherein said threshold values are derived from the sensor microvoltammogram(s) of at least one healthy individual, wherein the microvolatammogram uses the sensor of claim
 1. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the number of biomolecules is at least two.
 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the biomolecule comprises: pharmaceutical compounds, pharmaceutical compounds specific for neurodegenerative or neuropsychiatric diseases, disorders, and conditions, neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, hormones, surfactants, soaps, detergents, pramipexole, topiramate, clozapine, dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, acetylcholine, adenosine, estrogen, vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin E, brain lipids, phosphotidylethanolamine, tallow, sodium lauryl sulfate, N-acetyl-aspartate, choline, lactate, uric acid, stabilizing proteins, amyloid proteins, ascorbic acid, γ-aminobutyric acid, glutamate, neurotensin, somatostatin, dynorphin, homovanillic acid, nucleic acids, tryptophan, tyrosine, nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, surfactants, or combinations thereof.
 21. The method of claim 18, wherein the biomolecule detects conditions, diseases, or disorders of: the basal ganglia, athetoid, dystonic diseases, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, epilepsy, Lesch-Nyhan disease, controlled-substance addictions, cerebral ischemia, white matter disease, stroke cerebral hemorrhage, head trauma, multiple sclerosis, central nervous system infection, hydrocephalus, Leukodystrophies, and neoplasms.
 22. The method of claim 21 wherein the controlled substance addiction is an addiction to a controlled substance comprising opiates, stimulants, or depressants.
 23. A method for detecting a site of nerve or neuronal damage or blockage in a mammal having or being at risk of developing nerve damage or blockage comprising: generating a temporally resolved microvoltammogram of a tissue of said mammal; simultaneously monitoring movement behavior of said mammal; and comparing said microvoltammogram and movement behavior to a reference microvoltammogram of corresponding tissue of a healthy individual and concurrent reference movement behavior of said healthy individual, wherein the microvoltammogram uses the sensor of claim
 1. 24. The method of claim 23 wherein the nerve damage or blockage is a physical injury or blockage.
 25. The method of claim 24 wherein the physical injury or blockage is a spinal cord injury or blockage.
 26. The method of claim 24 wherein the nerve damage or blockage is a chemically-induced injury or blockage.
 27. A diagnostic method for brain or spinal cord injury comprising: generating a temporally resolved microvoltammogram of a tissue of a mammal having or being at risk of developing a brain or spinal cord injury; simultaneously monitoring movement behavior of said mammal; and comparing said microvoltammogram and movement behavior to a reference microvoltammogram of corresponding tissue of a healthy individual and concurrent reference movement behavior of said healthy individual, wherein the microvoltammogram uses the sensor of claim
 1. 28. The method of claim 27 wherein the movement behavior is ambulation, fine motor movement, or combinations thereof.
 29. A diagnostic method for brain cancer comprising: generating a temporally resolved microvoltammogram of cancerous brain cells or tissue; determining from said voltammogram the presence and concentration of at least two biomolecules, wherein said biomolecule comprises: pharmaceutical compounds, neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, hormones, surfactants, soaps, detergents, dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, acetylcholine, adenosine, estrogen, vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin E, brain lipids, phosphotidylethanolamine, tallow, sodium lauryl sulfate, N-acetyl-aspartate, choline, lactate, uric acid, stabilizing proteins, amyloid proteins, ascorbic acid, γ-aminobutyric acid, glutamate, neurotensin, somatostatin, dynorphin, homovanillic acid, nucleic acids, tryptophan, tyrosine, nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, or combinations thereof; and comparing said biomolecule concentrations to specific threshold values of each of the biomolecules to determine the presence of statistically significant concentration differences, wherein said threshold values are derived from the microvoltammogram(s) of healthy cells or tissue and said step of comparing said biomolecules distinguishes whether the cancerous cells are present in gray matter or white matter, wherein the microvolatammogram uses the sensor of claim
 1. 30. The method of claim 29, wherein the brain cancer comprises: malignant gliomas, astrocytomas, oligodendogliomas, ependymomas, gliosarcoma, meningioma, hammartomas, ganglioglioneurocytomas, primitive neuroectodermal tumors (pnet), medulloblastomas, neurofibromas, schwannomas, neuromas, teratomas, pituitary adenomas, or metastatic tumors.
 31. The method of claim 29 wherein said biomolecules are at least norepinephrine and dopamine.
 32. The method of claim 29 wherein at least one of said biomolecules is serotonin.
 33. The method of claim 29 wherein said markers are at least norepinephrine and serotonin and said comparing indicates gray matter if the catecholamine peak is about half the amplitude of the catecholamine reference peak of white matter and the serotonin peak is about double the amplitude of the serotinin reference peak of white matter.
 34. A method of measuring the neurotoxicity of a substance comprising: comparing a temporally resolved microvoltammogram of neural tissue in the absence of said material with a temporally resolved microvoltammogram of tissue in the presence of said material, wherein the microvolatammogram uses the sensor of claim
 1. 35. A method of diagnosing epilepsy comprising: generating a temporally resolved microvoltammogram of a tissue of a subject; and comparing said microvoltammogram to at least one reference microvolatammogram; wherein said reference microvoltammogram is of the corresponding tissue of an individual, comprising: a healthy individual, an individual having mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, an individual having neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy, an individual having parietal lobe epilepsy, an individual having frontal lobe epilepsy, an individual having jacksonian epilepsy, an individual having Rasmussen's epilepsy, an individual having Lafora's body disease, an individual having Lennox-Gestaut, an individual having Landau-Kleffner syndrome, an individual having West Syndrome, an individual having primary generalized epilepsies, an individual having partial epilepsy, or an individual having post-traumatic epilepsy, wherein the microvoltammogram uses the sensor of claim
 1. 36. The method of claim 35, wherein said microvoltammogram of a subject is compared with more than one reference microvoltammogram.
 37. The method of claim 35, wherein said microvoltammogram of a subject is compared with the reference microvoltammogram of a healthy individual, an individual having mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, and an individual having neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy.
 38. A diagnostic method for temporal lobe epilepsy comprising: generating a temporally resolved microvoltammogram of temporal lobe test tissue; determining from said microvoltammogram the presence and concentration of at least two biomolecules comprising: pharmaceutical compounds, pharmaceutical compounds specific for neurodegenerative or neuropsychiatric diseases, disorders, and conditions, neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, hormones, surfactants, soaps, detergents, pramipexole, topiramate, clozapine, dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, acetylcholine, adenosine, estrogen, vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin E, brain lipids, phosphotidylethanolamine, tallow, sodium lauryl sulfate, N-acetyl-aspartate, choline, lactate, uric acid, stabilizing proteins, amyloid proteins, ascorbic acid, γ-aminobutyric acid, glutamate, neurotensin, somatostatin, dynorphin, homovanillic acid, nucleic acids, tryptophan, tyrosine, nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, or combinations thereof; and comparing said test tissue biomolecule concentrations to specific threshold values of each of the biomolecules to determine the presence of statistically significant concentration differences, wherein said threshold values are derived from the microvoltammogram(s) of tissue selected from the group consisting of healthy temporal lobe tissue, mesial temporal lobe epileptic tissue, and neocortex temporal lobe epileptic tissue, wherein the microvolatammogram uses the sensor of claim
 1. 39. The method of claim 38, wherein said step of comparing said biomolecule distinguishes whether the test tissue is healthy tissue, mesial temporal lobe epileptic tissue, or neocortex temporal lobe epileptic tissue.
 40. A method for determining the concentration of a therapeutic material in a brain tumor comprising: contacting said tumor with the sensor of claim 1; applying a potential to said sensor; generating a temporally resolved sensor microvoltammogram; and determining from said microvoltammogram the concentration of said material.
 41. The method of claim 40, wherein said determining comprises calculating the concentration of said material using the Cottrell equation.
 42. A method of guiding neurosurgery comprising: distinguishing gray matter, white matter, tumor tissue, necrotic tissue, ischemic tissue, and edematous tissue, wherein said distinguishing comprises: a) generating a temporally resolved microvoltammogram of a test tissue using the sensor of claim 1, an EEG sensor, or combinations thereof; b) determining from said microvoltammogram the presence and concentration of at least two biomolecules comprising pharmaceutical compounds, neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, hormones, surfactants, soaps, detergents, dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, acetylcholine, adenosine, estrogen, vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin E, brain lipids, phosphotidylethanolamine, tallow, sodium lauryl sulfate, N-acetyl-aspartate, choline, lactate, uric acid, stabilizing proteins, amyloid proteins, ascorbic acid, γ-aminobutyric acid, glutamate, neurotensin, somatostatin, dynorphin, homovanillic acid, nucleic acids, tryptophan, tyrosine, nitrous oxide; nitric oxide, or combinations thereof; and c) comparing said test biomolecule concentrations to specific threshold values of each of the biomolecules to determine the presence of statistically significant concentration differences, wherein said threshold values are derived from the sensor microvoltammogram(s) of reference tissue of gray matter, white matter, tumor tissue, necrotic tissue, ischemic tissue, edematous tissue, or combinations thereof, wherein the microvolatammogram uses the sensor of claim
 1. 43. The method of claim 42, wherein said reference microvoltammogram is from a human or non-human mammal having mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy, parietal lobe epilepsy, frontal lobe epilepsy, Rasmussen's epilepsy, Lafora's body disease, Lennox-Gestaut, Landau-Kleffner syndrome, west Syndrome, primary generalized epilepsy, partial epilepsy, or post-traumatic epilepsy.
 44. The method of claim 42, wherein said intraoperative neuroanatomic localization comprises delineating marginal boundaries in brain substrates.
 45. The method of claim 42 wherein said contacting step is minimally invasive and occurs through a burr hole, small craniotomy, or an incision.
 46. A method for continuous or intermittent monitoring and administration of pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments for a neurological disorder in a mammal, comprising: a) contacting neural cells with the sensor of claim 1; b) applying a potential to the sensor; c) generating a temporally and/or spatially resolved sensor microvoltammogram; d) interpreting the microvoltammogram with a microprocessor or computer, wherein said microprocessor or computer determines the presence and concentration of a biomolecule comprising: pharmaceutical compounds, pharmaceutical compounds specific for neurodegenerative or neuropsychiatric diseases, disorders, and conditions, neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, hormones, surfactants, soaps, detergents, pramipexole, topiramate, clozapine, dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, acetylcholine, adenosine, estrogen, vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin E, brain lipids, phosphotidylethanolamine, tallow, sodium lauryl sulfate, N-acetyl-aspartate, choline, lactate, uric acid, stabilizing proteins, amyloid proteins, ascorbic acid, γ-aminobutyric acid, glutamate, neurotensin, somatostatin, dynorphin, homovanillic acid, nucleic acids, tryptophan, tyrosine, nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, or combinations thereof, and compares said biomolecule concentration to a threshold value of said respective biomolecule, and wherein said microprocessor or computer generates an output which administers the pharmacological or nonpharmacological treatment in an amount sufficient to treat said neurological disorder. 